THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


PRESENTED  BY 

Guy  B,   Johnson 


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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 

DIALECTIC  AND  PHILANTHROPIC 

SOCIETIES 


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1853 
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UNIVERSITY  OF  N  C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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This  book  is  due  at  the  WALTER  R.  DAVIS  LIBRARY  on 
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IN    SEARCir    OF 


SIR   JOHN    FRANKLIN, 

1853,  '54,  '55. 


BY 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE,  M.D.,  U.  S.  N. 


ILLUSTRATED   BY  UPWARDS   OF   THREE    HUNDRED   ENGRAVINGS, 

^hom  Shctcbcs  bj]  tijc  i^liitbor. 

THE    STEEL    PLATES    EXECUTED    UNDER    THE    SUPERINTENDENCE    OF    J.    M.    BUTLER, 
THE    WOOD    ENGRAVINGS    BY     VAN    INGEN    &    SNYDER. 


VOL.  I. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
GUILDS  &   PETERSON,    124  APvCH   STREET. 

J.  B.  LIPriNCOTT  &  CO.,  20  N.  FOURTH  ST. 

BOSTON:    PHILLIPS,   S.^JIPSOX   &   CO.,  13  AVIXTER   STRICKT. 

NEW  YORK :  G.  P.  PUTN.4.M  &  CO.,  321  r,RO.\DWAY. 

CINCINNATI:    APPLEGATE    &   CO.,   48  MAIN   STREET. 

1856. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

E.  K.  KANE, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


STKREOTYPKn   nT  I..  Jnilxsox   4 
nilLADELPIIIA. 


Publishers'  Advertisement, 


Si 
,Q  Having  jyurcJiased  the  stereotype  plates  of  tlie  "  First 


Grinnell  Expedition,"  hy  Dr.  Kane,  we  have  improved 
it  hy  the  addition  of  many  new  illustrations,  together  with 
a  fine  steel  portrait  of  Sir  John  Franldin,  and  a  sketch  of 
his  life,  extracted  from  Allihone' s  forthcoming  Dictionary 
of  Literature  and  Authors. 
^  We  loill  hereafter  issue  the  volume  in  a  style  to  corre- 

spond ivith  the  present  loorh. 

CHILDS  §•  PETERSON. 

O-  I  Philadelphia,  September,  1856. 


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PREFACE. 


This  book  is  not  a  record  of  scientific  inves- 
tigations. 

While  engaged,  under  the  orders  of  the  Navy 
Department,  in  arranging  and  elaborating  the 
results  of  the  late  expedition  to  the  Arctic  seas, 
I  have  availed  myself  of  the  permission  of  the 
Secretary  to  connect  together  the  passages  of 
my  journal  that  could  have  interest  for  the 
general  reader,  and  to  publish  them  as  a  nar- 
rative of  the  adventures  of  my  party.  I  have 
attempted  very  little  else. 

The  engravings  with  which  my  very  liberal 
publishers  have  illustrated  it,  will  certainly 
add  greatly  to  any  value  the  text  may  possess. 
Although   largely,    and,    in    some    cases   exclu- 

6 


6  PREFACE. 

sively,  indebted  for  their  interest  to  the  artistic 
sldll  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  they  are,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  from  sketches  made  on  the  spot. 

E.  K.  K. 

PUILADELPHIA,  July  4,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 


PAGE 


Organization — Equipment — St.  John's — Baffin's  Bay — Sounding      15 

CHAPTER  II. 

Fiskernaes — The  Fishery — Mr.  Lassen  —  Hans  Cristian  —  Lich- 
t  enfels — Sukkertoppeu ., 21 

CHAPTER  III. 

Coast  of  Greenland  —  Swarte-huk  —  Last  Danish  Outposts — Mel- 
ville Bay — In  the  Ice — Bears  —  Bergs — xlnchor  to  a  Berg — 
Midnight  Sunshine 30 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Boring  the  Floes — Successful  Passage  through  Melville  Bay — Ice- 
Navigation — Passage  of  the  Middle  Pack — The  North  Water.     38 

CHAPTER  V. 

Crimson  Cliffs  of  Beverley — Hakluyt  and  Northumberland — Red 
Snow — The  Gates  of  Smith's  Straits — Cape  Alexander — Cape 
Hatherton  — Farewell  Cairn  —  Life-boat  Depot  —  Esquimaux 
Ruins  found — Graves — Flagstaif  Point 44 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Closing  with  the  Ice — Refuge  Harbor — Dogs — "Walrus — Narwhal 
— Ice-hills — Beacon-cairn — Anchored  to  a  Berg — Esquimaux 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Hats — Peter  Force  Bay — Cape  Cornelius  Grinnell — Shallows 

— A  Gale — The  recreant  Dojirs 54 


CHAPTEn   VII. 

The  Eric  on  a  Berg  —  Godsend  Ledge  —  Holding  on — Adrift  — 
Scudding — Towed  by  a  Berg — Under  the  Cliffs — Nippings  — 
Aground — Ice-pressure — At  rest G6 

CHAPTER   Vlir. 

Tracking — Inspecting  a  Harbor — The  Musk-ox — Still  Tracking — 
,     Consultation — Warping  Again — Aground  near  the  Ice-foot — 
A  Breathing-spell — The  Boat-expedition — Departure 78 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Depot  journey — The  Ice-bolt  —  Crossing  Minturn  River — 
Skeleton  Musk-ox — Crossing  the  Glacier — Portage  of  Instru- 
ments—  Excessive  Burden  —  Mary  Minturn  River — Fording 
the  River — Thackeray  Headland — Cape  George  Russell  — 
Return  to  the  Brig — The  Winter  Harbor 91 

CHAPTER  X. 

Approaching  Winter — Storing  Provisions  —  Butler  Storehouse  — 
Sunday  at  Rest — Building  Observatory — Training  the  Dogs — 
The  Little  Willie— The  Road— The  Faith— Sledging— Recon- 
noissance — Depot-party 104 

CHAPTER  XL 

The  Observatory — Thermometers  —  The  Rats — The  Brig  on  Fire 
Ancient  Sledge-tracks  —  Esquimaux  Huts  —  Hydrophobia  — 
Sledge-driving — Musk-ox  Tracks — A  Sledge-party 116 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Leaping  a  Chasm  —  The  Ice-belt — Cape  William  Wood — Camp 
on  the  Floes  —  Return  of  Depot-party  —  Bonsall's  Adventure 
—Results— An  Escape — The  Third  Cache— McGary  Island. .    127 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII.  PAGE 

Walrus-holes — Advance  of  Darkness  —  Darkness  —  The  Cold  — 
''The  Ice-blink" — Fox-chase — Esquimaux  Huts — Occultatioa 
of  Saturn— Portrait  of  Old  Grim 140 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Magnetic  Observatory —  Temperatures — Returning  Light — Dark- 
ness and  the  Dogs — Hydrophobia — Ice-changes — The  Ice-foot 
—The  Ice-belt— The  Sunlight- March 152 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Arctic  Observations — Travel  to  Observatory — Its  Hazards — Arctic 
Life — The  Day — The  Diet — The  Amusements — The  Labors — 
The  Temperature  — The  ''Eis-fod"— The  Ice-belt— The  Ice- 
belt  encroaching  —  Expedition  preparing — Good-bye — A  Sur- 
prise—A second  Good-bye 165 


CHAPTER  XVL  , 

Preparation  —  Temperatures — Adventure — An  Alarm — Party  on 
the  Floes  —  Rescue-party  —  Lost  on  the  Floes  —  Party  found 
— Return  —  Freezing  —  Returning  Camp — A  Bivouac — Ex- 
hausted— Escape — Consequences 183 


CHAPTER   XVIL 

Baker's  Death — A  Visit  —  The  Esquimaux — A  Negotiation — 
Their  Equipment — Their  Deportment — A  Treaty — The  Fare- 
well— The  Sequel — Myouk — His  Escape — Schubert's  Illness.  200 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

An  Exploration  —  Equipraen  t  —  Outfit  —  Departure  —  Results — 
Features  of  Coast  —  Architectural  Rocks  —  Three  Brother 
Turrets  —  Tennyson's  Monument  —  The  Great  Glacier  of 
Humboldt 215 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIX.  PAGE 

Progress  of  the  Party — Prostration  —  Dallas  Bay  —  Death  of 
Schubert — The  Brig  in  May — Progress  of  Spring — McGary's 
Return  —  Dr.  Hayes's  Party — Equipment  —  Schubert's  Fu- 
neral   229 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Seal-hunting  —  Sir  John  Franklin  —  Resources — Acclimatization 
— The  Hope  —  Dr.  Hayes's  Return  —  His  Journey — Snow- 
blindness —  Cape  Hayes  —  The  Dogs  tangled  —  Mending  the 
Harness  —  Capes  Leidy  and  Frazer  —  Dobbin  Bay — Fletcher 
Webster  Headland  —  Peter  Force  Bay — New  Parties  —  Their 
Orders  —  Progress  of  Season  —  The  Seal  —  The  Netsik  and 
Usuk — A  Bear — Our  Encounter — Chaniie  in  the  Floe 241 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Progress  of  Season — Plants  in  Winter — Birds  Returning — Coch- 
learia— The  Plants 265 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Mr.  Bonsall's  Return — His  Story — The  Bear  in  Camp — His  Fate 

—Bears  at  Sport— The  Thaws 272 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Morton's  Return  —  His  Narrative  —  Peabody  Bay — Through  the 
Bergs — Bridging  the  Chasms — The  West  Land — The  Dogs  in 
Fright — Open  Water — The  Ice-foot — The  Polar  Tides — Capes 
Jackson  and  Morris — The  Channel — Free  of  Ice  —  Birds  and 
Plants— Bear  and  Cub  — The  Hunt  — The  Death  — Franklin 
and  Lafayette — The  Antarctic  Flag — Course  of  Tides — Mount 
Parry — Victoria  and  Albert  Mountains — Resume — The  Birds 
appear — The  Vegetation  —  The  Petrel — Cape  Constitution — 
Theories  of  an  Open  Sea  —  Illusory  Discoveries — Changes  of 
Climate — A  Sugsrestion 2S0 


CONTENTS.  11 


CHAPTER   XXIV.  pace 

Prospects — Speculations — The  Argument — The  Conclusion — Tho 
Keconnoissance  —  The  Scheme  —  Equipment  of  Boat-party — 
Eider  Island — Hans  Island — The  Cormorant  Gull — Sentiment 
— Our  Charts — Captain  Inglefield — Discrepancies — A  Gale — • 
Fast  to  aFloe 310 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Working  On — A  Boat-nip  —  Ice-barrier — The  Barrier  Pack  — 
Progress  Hopeless — Northumberland  Island — Northumberland 
Glacier — Ice-cascades — Neve 326 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

The  Ice-foot  in  August  —  The  Pack  in  August  —  Ice-blasting — 
Fox-trap  Point — Warping — The  Prospect  —  Approaching 
Climax  —  Signal-cairn  —  The  Record — Projected  Withdrawal 
— The  Question — The  Determination — The  Result 337 

CHAPTER  XXVIl. 

Discipline — Building  Igloe — Tossut  —  Mossing — After  Seal — On 
the  young  Ice — Going  too  far — Seals  at  Home — In  the  Water 
—In  Safety— Death  of  Tiger 352 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

The  Esquimaux — Larceny — The  Arrest — The  Punishment — The 
Treaty  —  ''Unbroken  Faith" — My  Brother — Return  from  a 
Hunt — Our  Life — Anoatok — A  AA^elcome — Treaty  confirmed..  363 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Walrus-grounds — Lost  on  the  Ice— A  Break-up  —  Igloe  of  Anoa- 
tok— Its  Garniture — Creature  Comforts — Esquimaux  Music — 
—  Usages  of  the  Table  —  New  London  Avenue  —  Scant  diet- 
list —  Bear  and  Cub — A  Hunt  —  Close  Quarters  —  Bear-fight- 
ing— Bear-habits — Bear's  Liver — Rats  —  The  Terrier  Fox  — 
The  Arctic  Hare — The  Ice-foot  Canopy — A  Wolf — Dogs  and 


12  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Wolves — Bear  and  Fox — The  Natives  and  ourselves — Winter 
Quarters — Morton's  Return — The  Light 376 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Journey  of  Morton  and  Hans — Reception — The  Hut — The  Wal- 
rus— Walrus-hunt — The  Contest — Habits  of  Walrus — Ferocity 
of  the  Walrus— The  Victory— The  Jubilee— A  Sipak 404 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

An  Aurora — Wood-cutting  —  Fuel-estimate  —  The  Stove-pipes  — 
The  Arctic  Firmament  —  Esquimaux  Astronomy— Heating- 
apparatus — Meteoric  Shower — A  Bear — Hasty  Retreat — The 
Cabin  by  Night — Sickness  Increasing — Cutting  into  the  Brig 
—The  Night-watch 420 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Ef-quimaux  Sledges  —  Bonsall's  Return  —  Results  of  the  Hunt — 
Return  of  withdrawing  Party — Their  Reception — The  Esqui- 
maux Escort — Conference — Conciliation — On  Fire — Casualty 
— Christmas — Ole  Ben — A  Journey  Ahead — Setting  out — A 
dreary  Night — Striking  a  Light — End  of  1854 435 


GLOSSARY  OF  AECTIC   TEEMS. 


Bai/-ice,  ice  of  recent  formation,  so  called  because  formiuo;  most  readily 
in  ba^'s  and  sheltered  spots. 

Berg,  (see  Iceberg.) 

Beset,  so  enclosed  by  floating  ice  as  to  be  unable  to  navigate. 

Bight,  an  indentation. 

Blasting,  breaking  the  ice  by  gunpowder  introduced  in  canisters. 

Blinh,  (see  Ice-blink.) 

Bore,  to  force  tbrougli  loose  or  recent  ice  by  sails  or  steam. 

Brash,  ice  broken  up  into  small  fragments. 

Calf,  detached  masses  from  berg  or  glacier,  rising  suddenly  to  the 
surface. 

Crow's  nest,  a  look-out  place  attached  to  the  top-gallant-masthead. 

Doch,  an  opening  in  the  ice,  artificial  or  natural,  offering  protection. 

Drift  ice,  detached  ice  in  motion. 

Field-ice,  an  extensive  surface  of  floating  ice. 

Fiord,  an  abrupt  opening  in  the  coast-line,  admitting  the  sea. 

Fire-hole,  a  well  dug  in  the  ice  as  a  safeguard  in  case  of  fire. 

Floe,  a  detached  portion  of  a  field. 

Glacier,  a  mass  of  ice  derived  from  the  atmosj)here,  sometimes  abut- 
ting upon  the  sea. 

UumviocJcs,  ridges  of  broken  ice  formed  by  collision  of  fields. 

Ice-anchor,  a  hook  or  grapnel  adapted  to  take  hold  upon  ice. 

13 


14  GLOSSARY     OF     ARCTIC     TERMS. 


Icc-helt,  a  continued  margin  of  ice,  which  in  high  northern  latitudes 

adheres  to  the  coast  above  the  ordinary  level  of  the  sea. 
Iceberg^  a  large  floating  mass  of  ice  detached  from  a  glacier. 
Ico-hlink,  a  peculiar  appearance  of  the  atmosphere  over  distant  ice. 
Ice-chisel,  a  long  chisel  for  cutting  holes  in  ice. 
Ice-face,  the  abutting  face  of  the  ice-belt. 
Ice-foot,  the  Danish  name  for  the  limited  ice-belt  of  the  more  southern 

coast. 
Ice-liooh,  a  small  ice-anchor. 
Ice-raft,  ice,  whether  field,  floe,  or  detached  belt,  transporting  foreign 

matter. 
Ice-table,  a  flat  surface  of  ice. 
Land-ice,  floes    or  fields  adhering  to  the  coast  or  included  between 

headlands. 
Lane  or  lead,  a  navigable  opening  in  the  ice. 

Nip,  the  condition  of  a  vessel  pressed  upon  by  the  ice  on  both  sides- 
Old  ice,  ice  of  more  than  a  season's  growth. 

Pacic,  a  large  area  of  floating  ices  driven  together  more  or  less  closely . 
Polynia,  a  Russian  term  for  an  open-water  space. 
Rue-raddy ,  a  shoulder-belt  to  drag  by. 

Tide-hole,  a  well  sunk  in  the  ice  for  the  purpose  of  observing  tides. 
Traclcing,  towing  along  a  margin  of  ice. 
Water-shy ,  a  peculiar  appearance  of  the  sky  over  open  water. 
Young  ice,  ice  formed  before  the  setting  in  of  winter;  recent  ice. 


ARCTIC   EXPLORATIONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORGANIZATION — PLAN    OF    OPERATIONS — COMPLEMENT — EQUIPMENT 

— ST.  John's. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1852,  I  had  the  honor 
of  receiving  special  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  to  "  conduct  an  expedition  to  the  Arctic  seas  in 
search  of  Sir  John  Franklin." 

I  had  been  engaged,  under  Lieutenant  De  Haven,  in 
the  Grinnell  Expedition,  which  sailed  from  the  United 
States  in  1850  on  the  same  errand;  and  I  had  occu- 
pied myself  for  some  months  after  our  return  in  ma- 
turing the  scheme  of  a  renewed  effort  to  rescue  the 
missing  party,  or  at  least  to  resolve  the  mystery  of  its 
fate.  Mr.  Grinnell,  with  a  liberality  altogether  cha- 
racteristic, had  placed  the  Advance,  in  which  I  sailed 
before,  at  my  disposal  for  the  cruise ;  and  Mr.  Pea- 
body,  of  London,  the  generous  representative  of  many 
American  sympathies,  had  proffered  his  aid  largely 
toward  her  outfit.  The  Geographical  Society  of  New 
York,  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  the  American  Phi- 

15 


16  '  ORGANIZATION. 


losopliical  Society,  —  I  name  them  in  the  order  in 
which  the  J  annomiced  their  contributions,  —  and  a 
number  of  scientific  associations  and  friends  of  science 
besides,  had  come  forward  to  help  me ;  and  by  their 
aid  I  managed  to  secure  a  better  outfit  for  purposes 
of  observation  than  would  otherwise  have  been  pos- 
sible to  a  party  so  limited  in  numbers  and  absorbed 
in  other  objects. 

Ten  of  our  little  party  belonged  to  the  United 
States  Navy,  and  were  attached  to  my  command  by 
orders  from  the  Department ;  the  others  were  shipped 
by  me  for  the  cruise,  and  at  salaries  entirely  dispro- 
portioned  to  their  services :  all  were  volunteers.  We 
did  not  sail  under  the  rules  that  govern  our  national 
ships ;  but  we  had  our  own  regulations,  well  con- 
sidered and  announced  beforehand,  and  rigidly  adhered 
to  afterward  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  expe- 
dition. These  included — first,  absolute  subordination 
to  the  officer  in  command  or  his  delegate;  second, 
abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  except  when 
dispensed  by  special  order;  third,  the  habitual  disuse 
of  profane  language.     We  had  no  other  laws. 

I  had  developed  our  plan  of  search  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  Geographical  Society.  It  was  based 
upon  the  j^i'obable  extension  of  the  land-masses  of 
Greenland  to  the  Far  North, — a  fact  at  that  time  not 
verified  by  travel,  but  sustained  by  the  analogies  of 
physical  geography.  Greenland,  though  looked  uj^on 
as  a  congeries  of  islands  connected  by  interior  glaciers, 
was  still  to  be  regarded  as  a  peninsula  whose  forma- 


PLAN     OF     OTE  RATIONS.     •  17 

tioii  recognised  the  same  general  laws  as  other  penin- 
sulas having  a  southern  trend. 

From  the  alternating  altitudes  of  its  mountain- 
ranges,  continued  without  depression  throughout  a 
meridional  line  of  nearly  eleven  hundred  miles,  I  in- 
ferred that  this  chain  must  extend  very  far  to  the 
north,  and  that  Greenland  might  not  improbably  ap- 
proach nearer  the  Pole  than  any  other  known  land. 

Believing,  then,  in  such  an  extension  of  this  penin- 
sula, and  feeling  that  the  search  for  Sir  John  Franklin 
would  be  best  promoted  by  a  course  that  might  lead 
most  directly  to  the  open  sea  of  which  I  had  inferred 
the  existence,  and  that  the  approximation  of  the 
meridians  would  make  access  to  the  West  as  easy 
from  Northern  Greenland  as  from  Wellington  Channel, 
and  access  to  the  East  far  more  ea-sy, —  feeling,  too, 
that  the  highest  protruding  headland  would  be  most 
likely  to  afford  some  traces  of  the  lost  party, —  I 
named,  as  the  inducements  in  fiivor  of  my  scheme, — 

1.  Terra  firma  as  the  basis  of  our  operations,  ob- 
viating the  capricious  character  of  ice-travel. 

2.  A  due  northern  line,  which,  throwing  aside  the 
influences  of  terrestrial  radiation,  w^ould  lead  soonest 
to  the  open  sea,  should  such  exist. 

3.  The  benefit  of  the  fan-like  abutment  of  land,  on 
the  north  face  of  Greenland,  to  check  the  ice  in  the 
course  of  its  southern  or  equatorial  drift,  thus  obviating 
the  great  drawback  of  Parry  in  his  attempts  to  reach 
the  Pole  by  the  Spitzbergen  Sea. 

4.  Animal  life  to  sustain  travelling  parties. 

Vol.  I.— 2 


18  COMPLEMENT. 


5.  The  co-operation  of  the  Esquimaux;  settlements 
of  these  people  having  been  found  as  high  as  Whale 
Sound,  and  probably  extending  still  farther  along  the 
coast. 

We  were  to  pass  up  Baffin  s  Bay  therefore  to  its 
most  northern  attainable  point;  and  thence,  pressing 
on  toward  the  Pole  as  far  as  boats  or  sledges  could 
carry  us,  examine  the  coast-lines  for  vestiges  of  the 
lost  party. 

All  hands  counted,  we  were  seventeen  at  the  time 
of  sailing.  Another  joined  us  a  few  days  afterward ; 
so  that  the  party  under  my  command,  as  it  reached 
the  coast  of  Greenland,  consisted  of 

Henry  Brooks,  First  Officer.     Isaac  I.  Hayes,  M.D.,  Surgeon. 
John  Wall  Wilson,  August  Sontag,  Astronomer. 

James  McGtAry,  Amos  Bonsall, 

George  Kiley,  George  Stephenson, 

William  Morton,  George  Whipple, 

Christian  Ohlsen,  William  Godfrey. 

Henry  Goodfellow,  ^  John  Blake, 

Jefferson  Baker, 

Peter  Schubert, 

Thomas  Hickey. 

Two  of  these,  Brooks  and  Morton,  had  been  my  asso- 
ciates in  the  first  expedition ;  gallant  and  trustworthy 
men,  both  of  them,  as  ever  shared  the  fortunes  or 
claimed  the  gratitude  of  a  commander. 

The  Advance  had  been  thoroughly  tried  in  many 
encounters   with   the  Arctic   ice.     She  was   carefully 


EQUIPMENT.  10 


inspected,  and  needed  very  little  to  make  her  all  a 
seaman  could  wish.  She  was  a  hermaphrodite  brig  of 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  tons,  intended  originally 
for  carrying  heavy  castings  from  an  iron-foundry,  but 
strengthened  afterward  with  great  skill  and  at  large 
expense.  She  was  a  good  sailer,  and  easily  managed. 
We  had  five  boats ;  one  of  them  a  metallic  life-boat, 
the  gift  of  the  maker,  Mr.  Francis. 

Our  equipment  was  simple.  It  consisted  of  little 
else  than  a  quantity  of  rough  boards,  to  serve  for 
housing  over  the  vessel  in  winter,  some  tents  of  India- 
rubber  and  canvas,  of  the  simplest  description,  and 
several  carefully-built  sledges,  some  of  them  on  a 
model  furnished  me  by  the  kindness  of  the  British 
Admiralty,  others  of  my  own  devising. 

Our  store  of  provisions  was  chosen  with  little  regard 
to  luxury.  We  took  with  us  some  two  thousand 
pounds  of  well-made  pemmican,  a  parcel  of  Borden's 
meat-biscuit,  some  packages  of  an  exsiccated  potato, 
resembling  Edwards's,  some  pickled  cabbage,  and  a 
liberal  quantity  of  American  dried  fruits  and  vege- 
tables; besides  these,  we  had  the  salt  beef  and  pork 
of  the  navy  ration,  hard  biscuit,  and  flour.  A  very 
moderate  supply  of  liquors,  with  the  ordinary  et  ceteras 
of  an  Arctic  cruiser,  made  up  the  diet-list.  I  hoped 
to  procure  some  fresh  provisions  in  addition  before 
reaching  the  upper  coast  of  Greenland;  and  I  carried 
some  barrels  of  malt,  with  a  compact  apparatus  for 
brewing. 

We  had  a  moderate  wardrobe  of  woollens,   a  full 


20  S  T.     J  0  II  X  '  s. 


supply  of  knives,  needles,  and  other  articles  for  barter, 
a  large,  well-chosen,  library,  and  a  valuable  set  of  in- 
struments for  scientific  observations. 

We  left  New  York  on  the  30th  of  May,  1853,  es- 
corted by  several  noble  steamers ;  and,  passing  slowly 
on  to  the  Narrows  amid  salutes  and  cheers  of  farewell, 
cast  our  brig  off  from  the  steam-tug  and  put  to  sea. 

It  took  us  eighteen  days  to  reach  St.  John's,  New- 
foundland. The  Governor,  Mr.  Hamilton,  a  brother 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  received  us  with  a 
hearty  English  welcome ;  and  all  the  officials,  indeed 
all  the  inhabitants,  vied  with  each  other  in  efforts  to 
advance  our  views.  I  purchased  here  a  stock  of  fresh 
beef,  which,  after  removing  the  bones  and  tendons,  we 
compressed  into  rolls  by  wrapping  it  closely  with  twine, 
according  to  the  nautical  process  of  marling,  and  hung 
it  up  in  the  rigging. 

After  two  days  we  left  this  thriving  and  hospitable 
city ;  and,  with  a  noble  team  of  Newfoundland  dogs  on 
board,  the  gift  of  Governor  Hamilton,  headed  our  brig 
for  the  coast  of  Greenland. 

We  reached  Baffin's  Bay  without  incident.  We 
took  deep-sea-soundings  as  we  approached  its  axis, 
and  found  a  reliable  depth  of  nineteen  hundred  fa- 
thoms :  an  interesting  result,  as  it  shows  that  the 
ridge  which  is  known  to  extend  between  Ireland  and 
Newfoundland  in  the  bed  of  the  Atlantic  is  depressed 
as  it  passes  farther  to  the  north.  A  few  days  more 
found  us  off  the  coast  of  Greenland,  making  our  way 
toward  Fiskernaes. 


FISXERNAES. 

CHAPTER  II. 

FISKERNAES THE    FISHERY  —  MR.  LASSEN  —  HANS    CRISTIAN  — 

LICHTENFELS SUKKERTOPPEN. 


We  entered  the  harbor  of  Fiskernaes  on  the  1st  of 
July,  amid  the  clamor  of  its  entire  population,  assem- 
bled on  the  rocks  to  greet  us.  This  place  has  an  en- 
viable reputation  for  climate  and  health.  Except  j^er- 
haps  Holsteinberg,  it  is  the  dryest  station  upon  the 
coast;  and  the  springs,  which  well  through  the  mosses, 
frequently  remain  unfrozen  throughout  the  year.*^^^ 

The  sites  of  the  different  Greenland  colonies  seem 
to  have  been  chosen  with  reference  to  their  trading 
resources.    The  southern  posts  around  Julianshaab  and 

•21 


22 


THE     FISHERY. 


Fredericstahl  supj^ly  the  Danish  market  mth  the  valued 
furs  of  the  saddle-back  seal;  Sukkertoppen  and  Hol- 
steinberg  with  reindeer-skins;  Disco  and  the  northern 
districts  with  the  seal  and  other  oils.  The  little  settle- 
ment of  Fiskernaes  rejoices  in  its  codfish,  as  well  as 
the  other  staples  of  the  upper  coast.  It  is  situated  on 
Fisher's  Fiord,  some  eight  miles  from  the  open  bay, 
and  is  approached  by  an  island-studded  channel  of 
moderate  draucrht. 


OOMIAK,      OR     WOMEN'S      BOAT,      F  I  S  H  I  N  G  —  F  I  S  K  E  R  N  A  E  S. 

We  saw  the  codfish  here  in  all  the  stages  of  j)repara- 
tion  for  the  table  and  the  market;  the  stockfish,  dried 
in  the  open  air,  without  salt;  crapefish,  salted  and 
pressed;  fresh-fish,  a  lucus  a  non  lucendo,  as  salt  as  a 
Mediterranean  anchovy :  we  laid  in  supplies  of  all  of 
them.  The  exemption  of  Fiskernaes  from  the  con- 
tinued fogs,  and  its  free  exposure  to  the  winds  as  they 
draw  up  the  fiord,  make  it  a  very  favorable  place  for 
drying  cod.  The  backbone  is  cut  out,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  about  four  inches  near  the  tail ;  the  body  ex- 
panded and  simply  hung  upon  a  frame :    the  head,  a 


MR.    LASSEN.  23 


luxury  neglected  with  us,  is  carefully  dried  in  a  separate 
piece. 

Seal  and  shark  oils  are  the  next  in  importance  among 
the  staples  of  Fiskernaes.'^"^  The  spec  or  blubber  is  pur- 
chased from  the  natives  with  the  usual  articles  of  ex- 
change, generally  coffee  and  tobacco,  and  rudely  tried 
out  by  exposure  in  vats  or  hot  expression  in  iron 
boilers.  None  of  the  nicer  processes  which  economy 
and  despatch  have  introduced  at  St.  John's  seem  to 
have  reached  this  out-of-the-way  coast.  Even  the 
cod-livers  are  given  to  the  dogs,  or  thrown  into  the 
general  vat. 

We  found  Mr.  Lassen,  the  superintending  official  of 
the  Danish  Company,  a  hearty,  single-minded  man, 
fond  of  his  wife,  his  children,  and  his  pipe.  The  visit 
of  our  brig  was,  of  course,  an  incident  to  be  marked  in 
the  simple  annals  of  his  colony;  and,  even  before  I 
had  shown  him  my  official  letter  from  the  Court  of 
Denmark,  he  had  most  hospitably  proffered  every  thing 
for  our  accommodation.  \¥e  became  his  guests,  and 
interchanged  presents  with  him  before  our  departure; 
this  last  transaction  enabling  me  to  say,  with  con- 
fidence, that  the  inner  fiords  produce  noble  salmon- 
trout,  and  that  the  reindeer-tongue,  a  recognised  deli- 
cacy in  the  old  and  new  Arctic  continents,  is  justly 
appreciated  at  Fiskernaes. 

Feeling  that  our  dogs  would  require  fresh  provisions, 
which  could  hardly  be  spared  from  our  supplies  on 
shipboard,  I  availed  myself  of  Mr.  Lassen's  influence 
to  obtain   an   Esquimaux  hunter  for  our  party.      He 


24 


HANS     C  E  I  S  T  I  A  N. 


recommended  to  me  one  Hans  Cristian,  a  boy  of  nine- 
teen, as  an  expert  with  the  kayak  and  javelin;  and 
after  Hans  had  given  me  a  touch  of  his  quality  by 
spearing  a  bird  on  the  wing,  I  engaged  him.  He  was 
fat,  good-natured,  and,  except  under  the  excitements 
of  the  hunt,  as  stolid  and  unimpressible  as  one  of  our 
own  Indians.     He  stipulated  that,  in  addition  to  his 


PORTRAIT      OF      HANS. 


very  moderate  wages,  I  should  leave  a  couple  of  barrels 
of  bread  and  fifty-two  pounds  of  pork  with  his  mother; 
and  I  became  munificent  in  his  eyes  when  I  added  the 
gift  of  a  rifle  and  a  new  kayak.  We  found  him  A^ery 
useful ;  our  dogs  required  his  services  as  a  caterer,  a.nd 
our  oA^ai  table  was  more  than  once  dependent  on  his 
energies.  :         , 


L  I  C  n  T  E  N  F  E  L  S.  25 


No  one  can  know  so  well  as  an  Arctic  voyager  the 
value  of  foresight.  My  conscience  has  often  called  for 
the  exercise  of  it,  but  my  habits  make  it  an  effort.  I 
can  hardly  claim  to  be  provident,  either  by  impulse  or 
education.  Yet,  for  some  of  the  deficiencies  of  our 
outfit  I  ought  not,  perhaps,  to  hold  myself  responsible. 
Our  stock  of  fresh  meats  was  too  small,  and  we  had 
no  preserved  vegetables :  but  my  personal  means  were 
limited;  and  I  could  not  press  more  severely  than  a 
strict  necessity  exacted  upon  the  unquestioning  libe- 
rality of  my  friends. 

While  we  were  beating  out  of  the  fiord  of  Fisker- 
naes,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  visiting  Lichtenfels,  the 
ancient  seat  of  the  Greenland  congregations,  and  one 
of  the  three  Moravian  settlements.  I  had  read  much 
of  the  history  of  its  founders ;  and  it  was  with  feelings 
almost  of  devotion,  that  I  drew  near  the  scene  their 
labors  had  consecrated.^^) 

As  we  rowed  into  the  shadow  of  its  rock-embayed 
cove,  every  thing  was  so  desolate  and  still,  that  we  might 
have  fancied  ourselves  outside  the  Avorld  of  life ;  even 
the  dogs — those  querulous,  never-sleeping  sentinels  of 
the  rest  of  the  coast — gave  no  signal  of  our  approach. 
Presently,  a  sudden  turn  around  a  projecting  cliff 
brought  into  view  a  quaint  old  Silesian  mansion,  bris- 
tling with  irregularly-disposed  chimneys,  its  black  over- 
hanging roof  studded  with  dormer  windows  and  crowned 
with  an  antique  belfry. 

We  were  met,  as  we  landed,  by  a  couple  of  grave 
ancient  men  in  sable  jackets  and  close  velvet  skull- 


26 


L  I  C  II  T  E  N  F  E  L  S. 


caps,  such  as  Vandyke  or  Rembrandt  himself  might 
have  painted,  who  gave  us  a  quiet  but  kindly  welcome. 
All  inside  of  the  mansion-house — the  furniture,  the 
matron,  even  the  children — had  the  same  time-sobered 
look.     The  sanded  floor  was  dried  by  one  of  those  huge 


MORAVIAN   SETTLEMENT   OF   LICHTENFELS. 


white-tiled  stoves,  which  have  been  known  for  genera- 
tions in  the  north  of  Europe;  and  the  stiff-backed 
chairs  were  evidently  coeval  with  the  first  days  of  the 
settlement.  The  heavy-built  table  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  was  soon  covered  with  its  simple  offerings  of 
hospitality;  and  we  sat  around  to  talk  of  the  lands  we 
had  come  from  and  the  changing  wonders  of  the  times. 


SUKKERTOPPEX.  27 


We  learned  that  the  house  dated  back  as  far  as 
the  days  of  Matthew  Stach ;  built,  no  doubt,  with  the 
beams  that  floated  so  providentially  to  the  shore  some 
twenty-five  years  after  the  first  landing  of  Egede ;  and 
that  it  had  been  the  home  of  the  brethren  who  now 
greeted  us,  one  for  twenty-nine  and  the  other  twenty- 
seven  years.  The  "Congregation  Hall"  was  within 
the  building,  cheerless  now  with  its  empty  benches ;  a 
couple  of  French  horns,  all  that  I  could  associate  with 
the  gladsome  piety  of  the  Moravians,  hung  on  each  side 
the  altar.  Two  dwelling-rooms,  three  chambers,  and 
a  kitchen,  all  under  the  same  roof,  made  up  the  one 
structure  of  Lichtenfels. 

Its  kind-hearted  inmates  were  not  without  intelli- 
gence and  education.  In  spite  of  the  formal  cut  of 
their  dress,  and  something  of  the  stiffness  that  belongs 
to  a  protracted  solitary  life,  it  was  impossible  not  to 
recognise,  in  their  demeanor  and  course  of  thought, 
the  liberal  spirit  that  has  always  characterized  their 
church.  Two  of  their  "children,"  they  said,  had  "gone 
to  God"  last  year  with  the  scurvy;  3^et  they  hesitated 
at  receiving  a  scanty  supply  of  potatoes  as  a  present 
from  our  store. 

We  lingered  along  the  coast  for  the  next  nine  days, 
baffled  by  calms  and  light  adverse  winds ;  and  it  was 
only  on  the  lOtli  of  July  that  we  reached  the  settle- 
ment of  Sukkertoppen. 

The  Sukkertop,  or  Sugar-loaf,  a  noted  landmark,  is  a 
wild  isolated  peak,  rising  some  3000  feet  from  the  sea. 
The  little  colony  which  nestles  at  its  base  occupies  a 


28 


SUKKERTOPPEN. 


rocky  gorge,  so  narrow  and  broken  that  a  stairway 
connects  the  detached  groups  of  huts,  and  the  tide,  as 
it  rises,  converts  a  part  of  the  groundplot  into  a  tem- 
porary island. 

Of  all  the  Danish  settlements  on  this  coast,  it  struck 
me  as  the  most  picturesque.  The  rugged  cliffs  seemed 
to  blend  with  the  grotesque  structures  about  their  base. 
The  trim  red  and  white  painted  frame  mansion,  which, 
in  virtue  of  its  green  blinds  and  flagstaff,  asserted  the 


APPROACH      TO      SU K KE RTO PPEN, 


gubernatorial  dignity  at  Fiskernaes,  was  here  a  lowly, 
dingy  compound  of  tarred  roof  and  heavy  gables.  The 
dwellings  of  the  natives,  the  natives  themselves,  and 
the  wild  packs  of  dogs  that  crowded  the  beach,  were  all 
in  keeping.  It  was  after  twelve  at  night  when  we  came 
into  port ;  and  the  peculiar  light  of  the  Arctic  summer 
at  this  hour, — which  reminds  one  of  the  effect  of  an 
eclipse,  so  unlike  our  orthodox  twilight, — bathed  every 
thing  in  gray  but  the  northern  background — an  Alpine 
chain  standing  out  against  a  blazing  crimson  sky. 
Sukkertoj)pen  is  a  principal  depot  for  reindeer-skins; 


SUKKERTOPPEN.  29 


and  the  natives  were  at  this  season  engaged  in  their 
summer  hunt,  collecting  them.  Four  thousand  had 
already  been  sent  to  Denmark,  and  more  were  on 
hand.  I  bought  a  stock  of  superior  quality  for  lift}' 
cents  a  piece.  These  furs  are  valuable  for  their 
lightness  and  warmth.  They  form  the  ordinary  upper 
clothing  of  both  sexes  ;'^^"'the  seal  being  used  only  for 
pantaloons  and  for  waterproof  dresses.  I  purchased 
also  all  that  I  could  get  of  the  crimped  seal-skin  boots 
or  moccasins,  an  admirable  article  of  walking  gear, 
much  more  secure  against  the  wet  than  any  made  b}^ 
semng.  I  would  have  added  to  my  stock  of  fish ;  but 
the  cod  had  not  yet  reached  this  part  of  the  coast,  and 
would  not  for  some  weeks. 

Bidding  good-bye  to  the  governor,  whose  hospitality 
we  had  shared  liberally,  we  put  to  sea  on  Saturday,  the 
10th,  beating  to  the  northward  and  westward  in  the 
teeth  of  a  heavy  gale. 


CHAPTER  m. 

COAST   or   GREENLAND SWARTE-HUB. LAST    DANISH    OUTPOSTS  — 

MELVILLE    BAY  —  IN    THE    ICE BEARS  —  BERGS  —  ANCHOR    TO   A 

BERG MIDNIGHT   SUNSHINE. 

The  lower  and  middle  coast  of  Greenland  has  been 
visited  by  so  many  voyagers,  and  its  points  of  interest 
have  been  so  often  described,  that  I  need  not  dwell 
upon  them.  From  the  time  we  left  Sukkertoppen,  we 
had  the  usual  delays  from  fogs  and  adverse  currents, 
and  did  not  reach  the  neighborhood  of  Wilcox  Point, 
which  defines  Melville  Bay,  until  the  27th  of  July. 

On  the  16th  we  passed  the  promontory  of  Swarte- 
huk,  and  were  welcomed  the  next  day  at  Proven 
by  my  old  friend  Christiansen,  the  superintendent, 
and  found  his  family  much  as  I  left  them  three 
years  before.  Frederick,  his  son,  had  married  a  native 
woman,  and  added  a  summer  tent,  a  half-breed  boy, 
and  a  Danish  rifle  to  his  stock  of  valuables.  My 
former  patient,  Anna,  had  united  fortunes  with  a  fat- 
faced  Esquimaux,  and  was  the  mother  of  a  chubby 
little  girl.  Madame  Christiansen,  who  counted  all  these 
and  so  many  others  as  her  happy  progeny,  was  hearty 

30 


S  W  A  R  T  E  -  H  U  K. 


oi 


and  warm-hearted  as  ever.  She  led  the  household  in 
sewing  up  my  skins  into  -various  serviceable  garments ; 
and  I  had  the  satisfaction,  before  I  left,  of  completing 
my  stock  of  furs  for  our  sledge  parties. 

While  our  brig  passed,  half  sailing,  half  driftmg,  up 
the  coast,  I  left  her  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Brooks, 


SWARTE-HUK— BLACK      HEAD. 


and  set  out  in  the  whale-boat  to  make  my  purchases  of 
dogs  among  the  natives.  Gathering  them  as  we  went 
along  from  the  different  settlements,  we  reached  Uper 
navik,  the  resting-place  of  the  Grinnell  Expedition  in 
1851  after  its  winter  drift,  and  for  a  coui^le  of  days 
shared,  as  we  were  sure  to  do,  the  generous  hospitality 
of  Governor  Flaischer. 


32  LAST     DANISH     OUTPOSTS. 


Still  coasting  along,  we  passed  in  succession  the 
Esquimaux  settlement  of  Kingatok;  the  Kettle, — a 
mountain-top  so  named  from  the  resemblances  of  its 
j)rofile, — and  finally  Yotlik,  the  farthest  j^oint  of  colo- 
nization; beyond  which,  save  the  sparse  headlands  of 
the  charts,  the  coast  may  be  regarded  as  unknown. 
Then,  inclining  more  directly  toward  the  north,  we  ran 
close  to  the  Baffin  Islands, — clogged  with  ice  when  I 
saw  them  three  3'ears  before,  now  entirely  clear, — 
sighted  the  landmark  which  is  known  as  the  Horse's 
Head,  and,  passing  the  Duck  Islands,  where  the  Ad- 
vance grounded  in  1851,  bore  away  for  Wilcox  Point.*^"^ 

We  stood  lazily  along  the  coast,  with  alternations  of 
perfect  calm  and  off-shore  breezes,  generally  from  the 
south  or  east;  but  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  July, 
as  we  neared  the  entrance  of  Melville  Bay,  one  of  those 
heavy  ice-fogs,  which  I  have  described  in  my  former 
narrative  as  characteristic  of  this  region,  settled  around 
us.  We  could  hardly  see  across  the  decks,  and  yet 
were  sensible  of  the  action  of  currents  carrying  us  we 
knew  not  where.  By  the  time  the  sun  had  scattered 
the  mist,  Wilcox  Point  was  to  the  south  of  us ;  and  our 
little  brig,  now  fairly  in  the  bay,  stood  a  fair  chance  of 
drifting  over  toward  the  Devil's  Thumb,  which  then 
bore  east  of  north.  The  bergs  which  infest  this  region, 
and  which  have  earned  for  it  among  the  whalers  the 
title  of  the  "  Bergy  Hole,"  showed  themselves  all  around 
us :  we  had  come  in  among  them  in  the  fog. 

It  was  a  whole  day's  work,  towing  with  both  boats ; 
iDut  toward  evenin";  we  had  succeeded  in  crawling  off 


MELVILLE      BAT.  33 


shore,  and  were  doubly  rewarded  for  our  labor  with  a 
wind.  I  had  observed  with  surprise,  while  we  were 
floating  near  the  coast,  that  the  land  ice  was  already 
broken  and  decayed;  and  I  was  aware,  from  what  I 
had  read,  as  well  as  what  I  had  learned  from  whalers 
and  observed  myself  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  naviga- 
tion, that  the  in-shore  track  was  in  consequence  beset 
with  difficulty  and  delays,  I  made  up  my  mind  at 
once.  I  would  stand  to  the  westward  until  arrested  by 
the  pack,  and  endeavor  to  double  Melville  Bay  by  an 
outside  passage.  A  chronicle  of  this  transit,  condensed 
from  my  log-book,  will  have  interest  for  navigators  : — 

"July  28,  Thursday,  6  a.m.— Made  the  offsetting 
streams  of  the  pack,  and  bore  up  to  the  northward  and 
eastward;  heading  for  Cape  York  in  tolerably  free 
water. 

"July  29,  Friday,  Oi  a.m. — Made  loose  ice,  and  very 
rotten ;  the  tables  nearly  destroyed,  and  much  broken 
by  wave  action  :  water-sky  to  the  northward.  Entered 
this  ice,  intending  to  work  to  the  northward  and  east- 
ward, above  or  about  Sabine  Islands,  in  search  of  the 
northeastern  land-ice.  The  breeze  freshened  off  shore, 
breaking  up  and  sending  out  the  floes,  the  leads  rapidly 
closing.  Fearing  a  besetment,  I  determined  to  fasten 
to  an  iceberg;  and  after  eight  hours  of  very  heavy 
labor,  warping,  heaving,  and  planting  ice-anchors,  suc- 
ceeded in  effecting  it. 

"We  had  hardly  a  breathing  spell,  before  we  were 
startled  by  a  set  of  loud  crackling  sounds  above  us; 
and  small  fragments  of  ice  not  larger  than  a  walnut 

Vol.  I.— 3 


34 


IN      THE      ICE 


BEARS. 


began  to  clot  the  water  like  the  first  drops  of  a  sum- 
mer shower.  The  indications  were  too  plain  :  we  had 
barely  time  to  cast  off  before  the  face  of  the  berg  fell 
in  ruins,  crashing  like  near  artillery. 


^^^ 


FASTENED     TO     AN     ICEBERG. 


"Our  position  in  the  mean  time  had  been  critical,  a 
gale  blowing  off  the  shore,  and  the  floes  closing  and 
scudding  rapidly.  We  lost  some  three  hundred  and 
sixty  fathoms  of  whale  line,  which  were  caught  in  the 
floes  and  had  to  be  cut  away  to  release  us  from  the 
drift.     It  was  a  hard  night  for  boatwork,  particularly 


IN     THE     ICE BERGS.  35 


witli  those  of  the  party  who  were  taking  their  first 
lessons  in  floe  navigation. 

"July  30,  Saturday. — Again  moored  alongside  of  an 
iceberg.  The  wind  off  shore,  but  hauling  to  the  south- 
ward, with  much  free  water. 

"12  M. — The  fog  too  dense  to  see  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  ahead ;  occasional  glimpses  through 
it  show  no  practicable  leads.  Land  to  the  northeast 
very  rugged  :  I  do  not  recognise  its  marks.  Two  lively 
bears  seen  about  2  A.  m.  The  '  Red  Boat,'  with  Petersen 
and  Hayes,  got  one;  I  took  one  of  the  quarter-boats, 
and  shot  the  other. 

"  Holding  on  for  clearer  weather. 

"July  31,  Sunday. — Our  open  water  beginning  to 
fill  up  very  fast  with  loose  ice  from  the  south,  went 
around  the  edges  of  the  lake  in  my  gig,  to  hunt  for  a 
more  favorable  spot  for  the  brig ;  and,  after  five  hours' 
hard  heaving,  we  succeeded  in  changing  our  fasts  to 
another  berg,  quite  near  the  free  water.  In  our  pre- 
sent position,  the  first  change  must,  I  think,  liberate 
us.  In  one  hour  after  we  reached  it,  the  place  we  left 
was  consolidated  into  pack.  We  now  lie  attached  to  a 
low  and  safe  iceberg,  only  two  miles  from  the  open  sea, 
which  is  rapidly  widening  toward  us  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  southerly  winds. 

"We  had  a  rough  time  in  working  to  our  present 
quarters,  in  what  the  whalers  term  an  open  hole.  We 
drove  into  a  couple  of  bergs,  carried  away  our  jib-boom 
and  shrouds,  and  destroyed  one  of  our  quarter-boats. 

"August  1,  Monday. — Beset  thoroughly  with   drift- 


36 


ANCHOR     TO     A     BERG. 


ing  ice,  small  rotten  floe-pieces.  But  for  our  berg,  we 
would  now  be  carried  to  the  south;  as  it  is,  we  drift 
with  it  to  the  north  and  east. 

"  2  A.  M. — The  continued  pressure  against  our  berg  has 
begun  to  affect  it ;  and,  like  the  great  floe  all  around  us, 


M  t  L  V  I  L  L  E 


it  has  taken  up  its  line  of  march  toward  the  south.  At 
the  risk  of  being  entangled,  I  ordered  a  light  line  to  be 
carried  out  to  a  much  larger  berg,  and,  after  four  hours' 
labor,  made  fast  to  it  securely.  This  berg  is  a  moving 
breakwater,  and  of  gigantic  proportions :  it  keeps  its 
course  steadily  toward  the  north,  while  the  loose  ice 


MIDNIGHT      SUNSHINE.  37 


drifts  by  on  each  side,  leaving  a  wake  of  black  water 
for  a  mile  behind  us. 

"Our  position  last  night,  by  midnight  altitude  of  the 
sun,  gave  us  75°  27'j  to-day  at  noon,  with  a  more  re- 
liable horizon,  we  made  75°  37'j  showing  that,  in  spite 
of  all  embarrassments,  we  still  move  to  the  north.  We 
are,  however,  nearer  than  I  could  wish  to  the  land, — a 
blank  wall  of  glacier. 

"About  10  P.M.  the  immediate  danger  was  past;  and, 
espying  a  lead  to  the  northeast,  we  got  under  weigh, 
and  pushed  over  in  spite  of  the  drifting  trash.  The 
men  worked  with  a  will,  and  we  bored  through  the 
floes  in  excellent  style." 

On  our  road  we  were  favored  with  a  gorgeous  spec- 
tacle, which  hardly  any  excitement  of  peril  could  have 
made  us  overlook.  The  midnight  sun  came  out  over 
the  northern  crest  of  the  great  berg,  our  late  "fast 
friend,"  kindling  variously-colored  fires  on  every  part 
of  its  surface,  and  making  the  ice  around  us  one  great 
resplendency  of  gemwork,  blazing  carbuncles,  and  rubies 
and  molten  gold. 


r  CHAPTER  IV. 

BORING     THE     FLOES  —  SUCCESSFUL     PASSAGE     THROUGH     MELVILLE 

BAY  —  ICE  NAVIGATION PASSAGE   OF   THE   MIDDLE   PACK  —  THE 

NORTH   WATER. 

Our  brig  went  crunching  through  all  this  jewelry; 
and,  after  a  tortuous  progress  of  five  miles,  arrested 
here  and  there  bj  tongues  which  required  the  saw  and 
ice-chisels,  fitted  herself  neatly  between  two  floes.  Here 
she  rested  till  tovv^ard  morning,  when  the  leads  opened 
again,  and  I  was  able,  from  the  crow's-nest,  to  pick  our 
way  to  a  larger  pool  some  distance  ahead.  In  this  we 
beat  backward  and  forward,  like  China  fish  seeking 
an  outlet  from  a  glass  jar,  till  the  fog  caught  us  again; 
and  so  the  day  ended. 

"August  3,  Wednesday. — The  day  did  not  promise 
well ;  but  as  the  wind  was  blowing  in  feeble  airs  from 
the  north-northwest,  I  thought  it  might  move  the  ice, 
and  sent  out  the  boats  for  a  tow.  But,  after  they  had 
had  a  couple  of  hours  of  unprofitable  work,  the  breeze 
freshened,  and  the  floes  opened  enough  to  allow  us  to 
beat  through  them.  Every  thing  now  depended  upon 
practical  ice  knowledge ;    and,  as  I  was  not  willing  to 

88 


THROUGH      MELVILLE      BAY. 


trust  any  one  else  in  selecting  the  leads  for  our 
course,  I  have  spent  the  whole  day  with  McGary  at 
mast-head, — a  somewhat  conjEined  and  unfavorable  pre- 
paration for  a  journal  entry. 

"  I  am  much  encouraged,  however;  this  off-shore  wind 
is  favoring  our  escape.  The  icebergs  too  have  assisted 
us  to  hold  our  own  against  the  rapid  passage  of  the 
broken  ice  to  the  south ;  and  evince  the  larger  floes  have 
opened  into  leads,  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  follow 


THE      NORTH      WATER. 


them  carefully  and  boldly.  As  for  the  ice-necks,  and 
prongs,  and  rafts,  and  tongues,  the  capstan  and  wind- 
lass have  done  a  great  deal  to  work  us  through  them ; 
but  a  great  deal  more,  a  brave  headway  and  our  little 
brig's  hard  head  of  oak. 

"  Midnight. — We  are  clear  of  the  bay  and  its  myriads 
of  discouragements.  The  North  Water,  our  highway 
to  Smith's  Sound,  is  fairly  ahead. 

"It  is   only  eight  days   ago  that  we  made  Wilcox 


40  THROUGH      MELVILLE      BAY. 


Point,  and  seven  since  we  fairly  left  the  inside  track  of 
the  whalers,  and  made  our  push  for  the  west.  I  did  so, 
not  without  full  consideration  of  the  chances.  Let  me 
set  down  what  my  views  were  and  are." 

The  indentation  known  as  Melville  Bay  is  protected 
by  its  northern  and  northeastern  coast  from  the  great 
ice  and  current  drifts  which  follow  the  axis  of  Baffin's 
Bay.  The  interior  of  the  country  which  bounds  upon 
it  is  the  seat  of  extensive  glaciers,  which  are  constantly 
shedding  off  icebergs  of  the  largest  dimensions.  The 
greater  bulk  of  these  is  below  the  water-line,  and  the 
depth  to  which  they  sink  when  floating  subjects  them 
to  the  action  of  the  deeper  sea  currents,  while  their 
broad  surface  above  the  water  is  of  course  acted  on  by 
the  wind.  It  happens,  therefore,  that  the}^  are  found 
not  unfrequently  moving  in  different  directions  from 
the  floes  around  them,  and  preventing  them  for  a  time 
from  freezing  into  a  united  mass.  Still,  in  the  late 
winter,  when  the  cold  has  thoroughly  set  in,  Melville 
Bay  becomes  a  continuous  field  of  ice,  from  Cape  York 
to  the  Devil's  Thumb. 

On  the  return  of  milder  weather,  the  same  causes  re- 
new their  action ;  and  that  portion  of  the  ice  which  is 
protected  from  the  outside  drift,  and  entangled  among 
the  icebergs  that  crowd  the  bay,  remains  permanent 
long  after  that  which  is  outside  is  in  motion.  Step  by 
step,  as  the  year  advances,  its  outer  edge  breaks  ofi";  yet 
its  inner  curve  frequently  remains  unbroken  through 
the  entire  summer.  This  is  the  "fast  ice"  of  the 
ftdialers,  so  important  to  their  progress  in  the  earlier 


ICE      NAVIGATION.  41 


portions  of  the  season;  for,  however  it  may  be  en- 
croached upon  by  storms  or  currents,  they  can  gene- 
rally find  room  to  trach  their  vessels  along  its  solid 
margin ;  or  if  the  outside  ice,  yielding  to  off-shore 
winds,  happens  to  recede,  the  interval  of  water  be- 
tween the  fast  and  the  drift  allows  them  not  unfre- 
quently  to  use  their  sails. 

It  is  therefore  one  of  the  whalers'  canons  of  naviga- 
tion, which  they  hold  to  most  rigidly,  to  follow  the 
shore.  But  it  is  obvious  that  this  applies  only  to  the 
early  periods  of  the  Arctic  season,  when  the  land  ice  of 
the  inner  bay  is  comparatively  unbroken,  as  in  May  or 
June,  or  part  of  July,  varying  of  course  with  the  cir- 
cumstances. Indeed,  the  bay  is  seldom  traversed  ex- 
cept in  these  months,  the  northwest  fisheries  of  Pond's 
Bay,  and  the  rest,  ceasing  to  be  of  value  afterward. 
Later  in  the  summer,  the  inner  ice  breaks  up  into  large 
floes,  moving  with  wind  and  tide,  that  embarrass  the 
navigator,  misleading  him  into  the  notion  that  he  is 
attached  to  his  "fast,"  when  in  reality  he  is  accom- 
panying the  movements  of  an  immense  floating  ice- 
field. 

I  have  been  surprised  sometimes  that  our  national 
ships  of  discovery  and  search  have  not  been  more 
generally  impressed  by  these  views.  Whether  the 
season  has  been  mild  or  severe,  the  ice  fast  and  solid, 
or  broken  and  in  drift,  they  have  followed  in  August 
the  same  course  which  the  whalers  do  in  June,  run- 
ning their  vessels  into  the  curve  of  the  bay  in  search 
of  the  fast  ice  which  had  disappeared  a  month  before. 


42       PASSAGE  OF  THE  MIDDLE  PACK. 


and  involving  themselves  in  a  labyrinth  of  floes.  It 
was  thus  the  Advance  was  caught  in  her  second  sea- 
son, under  Captain  De  Haven ;  while  the  Prince  Albert, 
leaving  us.  worked  a  successful  passage  to  the  west. 
So  too  the  North  Star,  in  1849,  was  carried  to  the 
northward,  and  hopelessly  entangled  there.  Indeed,  it 
is  the  common  story  of  the  disasters  and  delays  that 
we  read  of  in  the  navigation  of  these  regions. 

Now  I  felt  sure,  from  the  known  openness  of  the 
season  of  1852  and  the  probable  mildness  of  the  fol- 
lowing winter,  that  we  could  scarcely  hope  to  make 
use  of  the  land  ice  for  tracking,  or  to  avail  ourselves 
of  leads  along  its  margin  by  canvas.  And  this  opinion 
was  confirmed  by  the  broken  and  rotten  appearance 
of  the  floes  during  our  coastwise  drift  at  the  Duck 
Islands.  I  therefore  deserted  the  inside  track  of  the 
whalers,  and  stood  to  the  westward,  until  we  made  the 
first  streams  of  the  middle  pack ;  and  then,  skirting 
the  pack  to  the  northward,  headed  in  slowly  for  the 
middle  portion  of  the  bay  above  Sabine  Islands.  My 
object  was  to  double,  as  it  were,  the  loose  and  drifting 
ice  that  had  stood  in  my  way,  and,  reaching  Cape 
York,  as  nearly  as  might  be,  trust  for  the  remainder 
of  my  passage  to  warping  and  tracking  by  the  heavy 
floes.  We  succeeded,  not  without  some  laborious 
boring  and  serious  risks  of  entanglement  among  the 
broken  icefields.  But  we  managed,  in  every  instance, 
to  combat  this  last  form  of  difiiculty  by  attaching  our 
vessel  to  large  icebergs,  which  enabled  us  to  hold  our 
own,  however  smftly  the  surface  floes  were  pressing 


THE     NORTH     "WATER.  43 


by  US  to  the  south.  Four  days  of  this  scarcely  varied 
yet  exciting  navigation  brought  us  to  the  extended 
fields  of  the  pack,  and  a  fortunate  northwester  opened 
a  passage  for  us  through  them.  We  are  now  in  the 
North  Water.  ^'^ 


J}     / 


CHAPTER  Y. 

CRIMSON   CLIFFS   OP   BEVERLEY HAKLUYT   AND   NORTHUMBERLAND 

—  RED  SNOW THE  GATES  OF   SMITH's  STRAITS  —  CAPE  ALEXAN- 
DER  CAPE    HATHERTON FAREWELL    CAIRN LIFE-BOAT    DEPOT 

ESQUIMAUX   RUINS   FOUND  —  GRAVES  —  FLAGSTAFF   POINT. 

My  diary  continues  : — 

"  We  passed  the  '  Crimson  Cliffs'  of  Sir  John  Ross  in 
the  forenoon  of  August  5th.  The  patches  of  red  snow, 
from  Avhich  they  derive  their  name,  could  be  seen 
clearly  at  the  distance  of  ten  miles  from  the  coast.  It 
had  a  fine  deejD  rose  hue,  not  at  all  like  the  brown 
stain  which  I  noticed  when  I  was  here  before.  All  the 
gorges  and  ravines  in  which  the  snows  had  lodged  were 
deeply  tinted  with  it.  I  had  no  difficulty  now  in  justi- 
fying the  somewhat  poetical  nomenclature  which  Sir 
John  Franklin  ajoplied  to  this  locality ;  for  if  the  snowy 
surface  were  more  diffused,  as  it  is  no  doubt  earlier  in 
the  season,  crimson  would  be  the  prevailing  color. 

"Late  at  night  we  passed  Conical  Rock,  the  most 
insulated  and  conspicuous  landmark  of  this  coast ;  and, 
still  later,  Wostenholm  and  Saunder's  Islands,  and 
Oomenak,  the  place  of  the  'North  Star's'  winter-quar- 

4i 


IIAKLUYT     AND     NORTHUMBERLAND.  45 


ters : — an  adminible  clay's  run ;  and  so  ends  the  5th  of 
August.  We  are  standing  along,  with  studding-sails 
set,  and  open  water  before  us,  fast  nearing  our  scene 
of  labor.  We  have  already  got  to  work  sewing  up 
blanket  bags  and  preparing  sledges  for  our  camj)aign- 
ings  on  the  ice." 

We  reached  Hakluyt  Island  in  the  course  of  the  next 
day.     I  have  only  this  wood-cut  to  Q:ive  an  idea  of  its 


H.wiLUYT       POINT,      FROM       NORTH-NORTH  Wt^l. 

northern  face.  The  tall  spire,  probably  of  gneiss,  rises 
six  hundred  feet  above  the  water-level,  and  is  a  valuable 
landmark  for  very  many  miles  around.  We  were  des- 
tined to  become  fimiliar  with  it  before  leaving  this 
region.  Both  it  and  Northumberland,  to  the  southeast 
of  it,  afforded  studies  of  color  that  would  have  re- 
warded an  artist.  The  red  snow  was  diversified  with 
large   surfaces  of  beautifully-green  mosses   and  alope- 


46  THE     GATES     OF     SMITH'S     STRAITS. 


curus  /'^^and  where  the  sandstone  was  bare,  it  threw  in  a 
i*ich  shade  of  brown. 

The  coast  to  the  north  of  Cape  Atholl  is  of  broken 
greenstone,  in  terraces.  Nearing  Hakluyt  Island,  the 
truncated  and  pyramidal  shapes  of  these  rocks  may 
still  be  recognised  in  the  interior;  but  the  coast  pre- 
sents a  coarse  red  sandstone,  which  continues  well 
characterized  as  far  as  Cape  Saumarez.  The  nearly  ho- 
rizontal strata  of  the  sandstone  thus  exhibited  contrast 
conspicuously  with  the  snow  which  gathers  upon  their 
exposed  ledges.  In  fact,  the  parallelism  and  distinct- 
ness of  the  lines  of  white  and  black  would  have  dis- 
satisfied a  lover  of  the  picturesque.  Porphyritic  rocks, 
however,  occasionally  broke  their  too  great  uniformity ; 
occasionally,  too,  the  red  snow  showed  its  colors ;  and 
at  intervals  of  very  few  miles — indeed,  wherever  the 
disrupted  masses  offered  a  passage-way — glaciers  were 
seen  descending  toward  the  water's  edge.  All  the  back 
country  appeared  one  great  rolling  distance  of  glacier. 

"August  6,  Saturday. — Cape  Alexander  and  Cape 
Isabella,  the  headlands  of  Smith's  Sound,  are  now  in 
sight ;  and,  in  addition  to  these  indications  of  our  pro- 
gress toward  the  field  of  search,  a  marked  swell  has 
set  in  after  a  short  blow  from  the  northward,  just  such 
as  might  be  looked  for  from  the  action  of  the  wind 
upon  an  open  water-space  beyond. 

"Whatever  it  may  have  been  when  Captain  Ingle- 
field  saw  it  a  year  ago,  the  aspect  of  this  coast  is  now 
most  uninviting. ^^^  As  we  look  far  off  to  the  west,  the 
snow  comes  down  with  heavy  uniformity  to  the  water  s 


CAPE      ALEXANDER. 


47 


edge,  and  the  patches  of  land  seem  as  rare  as  the  sum- 
mer's snow  on  the  hills  about  Sukkertoppen  and  Fisk- 
ernaes.  On  the  right  we  have  an  array  of  cliffs, 
whose  frowning  grandeur  might  dignify  the  entrance 
to  the  proudest  of  southern  seas.     I  should  say  they 


*(->    -^/iH)  i 


CAPS      ALEXANDER. 


,^ 


would  average  from  four  to  five  hundred  yards  in 
height,  with  some  of  their  precipices  eight  hundred  feet 
at  a  single  steep.  They  have  been  until  now  the  Arctic 
pillars  of  Hercules ;  and  they  look  down  on  us  as  if 
they  challenged  our  right  to  pass.  Even  the  sailors  are 
impressed,  as  we  move  under  their  dark  shadow.     One 


48 


CAPE     HATHERTON. 


of  the  officers  said  to  our  look-out,  that  the  gulls  and 
eider  that  dot  the  water  about  us  were  as  enlivening  as 
the  white  sails  of  the  Mediterranean.  'Yes,  sir,'  he  re- 
joined, with  sincere  gravity;  'yes,  sir,  in  proportion  to 
their  size.'" 

"August  7,  Sunday.— We  have  left  Cape  Alexander 


HARTSTENE   BAY— LEAVING   CAPE   ALEXANDER. 

to  the  south ;  and  Littleton  Island  is  before  us,  hiding 
Cape  Hatherton,  the  latest  of  Captain  Inglefield's  posi- 
tively-determined headlands.  We  are  fairly  inside  of 
Smith's  Sound. 

"  On  our  left  is  a  capacious  bay;  and  deep  in  its  north- 
eastern recesses  we  can  see  a  glacier  issuing  from  a  fiord." 


LIFE-BOAT      DEPOT.  49 


We  knew  this  bay  familiarly  afterward,  as  the  re- 
sidence of  a  body  of  Esquimaux  with  whom  we  had 
many  associations ;  but  we  little  dreamt  then  tliat  it 
would  bear  the  name  of  a  gallant  friend,  who  found 
there  the  first  traces  of  our  escape.  A  smalL  cluster  of 
rocks,  hidden  at  times  by  the  sea,  gave  evidence  of  the 
violent  tidal  action  about  them. 

"As  we  neared  the  west  end  of  Littleton  Island, 
after  breakfast  this  morning,  I  ascended  to  the  crow's- 
nest,  and  saw  to  my  sorrow  the  ominous  blink  of  ice 
ahead.  ^^^  The  wind  has  been  freshening  for  a  couple  of 
days  from  the  northward,  and  if  it  continues  it  will 
bring  down  the  floes  on  us. 

"  My  mind  has  been  made  up  from  the  first  that  we 
are  to  force  our  way  to  the  north  as  far  as  the  elements 
will  let  us ;  and  I  feel  the  importance  therefore  of 
securing  a  place  of  retreat,  that  in  case  of  disaster  we 
may  not  be  altogether  at  large.  Besides,  we  have  now 
reached  one  of  the  points,  at  which,  if  any  one  is  to 
follow  us,  he  might  look  for  some  trace  to  guide  him." 

I  determined  to  leave  a  cairn  on  Littk^ton  Island, 
and  to  deposit  a  boat  with  a  supply  of  stores  in  some 
convenient  place  near  it.  One  of  our  whale-boats  had 
been  crushed  in  Melville  Bay,  and  Francis's  metallic 
life-boat  was  the  only  one  I  could  spare.  Its  length 
did  not  exceed  twenty  feet,  and  our  crew  of  twenty 
could  hardly  stow  themselves  in  it  with  even  a  few 
days'  rations ;  but  it  was  air-chambered  and  buoyant. 

Selecting  from  our  stock  of  provisions  and  field 
equipage  such  portions  as  we  might  by  good  luck  be 


VoT,.  I.— 4 


50  ESQUIMAUX     EUINS     FOUND. 


able  to  dispense  with,  and  adding  with  reluctant  libe- 
rality some  blankets  and  a  few  yards  of  India-rubber 
cloth,  we  set  out  in  search  of  a  spot  for  our  first  depot. 
It  was  essential  that  it  should  be  upon  the  mainland ; 
for  the  rapid  tides  might  so  wear  away  the  ice  as  to 
make  an  island  inaccessible  to  a  foot-party ;  and  yet  it 
was  desirable  that,  while  secure  against  the  action  of 
sea  and  ice,  it  should  be  approachable  by  boats.  We 
found  such  a  place  after  some  pretty  cold  rowing.  It 
was  off  the  northeast  c-ape  of  Littleton,  and  bore 
S.S.E.  from  Cape  Hatherton,  which  loomed  in  the  dis- 
tance above  the  fog.  Here  we  buried  our  life-boat 
with  her  little  cargo.  We  placed  along  her  gunwale 
the  heaviest  rocks  we  could  handle,  and,  filling  up  the 
interstices  with  smaller  stones  and  sods  of  andromeda 
and  moss,  poured  sand  and  water  among  the  layers. 
This,  frozen  at  once  into  a  solid  mass,  might  be 
hard  enough,  we  hoped,  to  resist  the  claws  of  the 
polar  bear. 

We  found  to  our  surprise  that  we  were  not  the  first 
human  beings  who  had  sought  a  shelter  in  this  deso- 
late spot.  A  few  ruined  walls  here  and  there  showed 
that  it  had  once  been  the  seat  of  a  rude  settlement; 
and  in  the  little  knoll  which  we  cleared  away  to  cover 
in  our  storehouse  of  valuables,  we  found  the  mortal 
remains  of  their  former  inhabitants. 

Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  sad  and  homeless 
than  these  memorials  of  extinct  life.  Hardly  a  ves- 
tige of  growth  was  traceable  on  the  bare  ice-rubbed 
rocks ;   and  the  huts  resembled  so  much   the  broken 


ESQUIMAUX      GRAVES. 


5] 


fragments  that  surrounded  them,  that  at  first  sight  it 
was  hard  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other.  Wah'us 
bones  lay  about  in  all  directions,  showing  that  this 
animal  had  furnished  the  staple  of  subsistence.  There 
were  some  remains  too  of  the  fox  and  the  narwhal ; 
but  I  found  no  siscns  of  the  seal  or  reindeer. 


ESQUIMAUX       RUINED      H  U  T  S  —  L  I  F  E  ■  B  O  A  r      COVE. 


These  Esquimaux  have  no  mother  earth  to  receive 
their  dead ;  but  they  seat  them  as  in  the  attitude  of 
repose,  the  knees  drawn  close  to  the  body,  and  enclose 
them  in  a  sack  of  skins.  The  implements  of  the  living 
man  are  then  grouped  around  him ;  they  are  covered 
"svitli  a  rude  dome  of  stones,  and  a  cairn  is  piled  above. 
This  simple  cenotaph  will  remain  intact  for  generation 
after  generation.  The  Esquimaux  never  disturb  a 
grave. 

From  one  of  the  graves  I  took  several  perforated 


52 


ESQUIMAUX      IMPLEMENTS. 


and  rudely-fashioned  pieces  of  walrus  ivory,  evidently 
parts  of  sledge  and  lance  gear.  But  wood  must  have 
been  even  more  scarce  with  them  than  with  the 
natives  of  Baffin's  Bay  north  of  the  Melville  glacier. 


Pot  Hook. 

ESQUIMAUX       IMPLEMENTS,      FROM      GRAVES. 


We  found,  for  instance,  a  child's  toy  spear,  which, 
though  elaborately  tipped  with  ivory,  had  its  wooden 
handle  pieced  out  of  four  separate  bits,  all  carefully 
patched  and  bound  Avith  skin.  No  piece  was  more 
than  six  inches  in  lenofth  or  half  an  inch  in  thickness. 


FLAGSTAFF      POINT. 


53 


We  found  other  traces  of  Esquimaux,  both  on  Lit- 
tleton IsUind  and  in  Shoal- Water  Cove,  near  it.  They 
consisted  of  huts,  graves,  places  of  deposit  for  meat, 
and  rocks  arranged  as  foxtraps.  These  were  evidently 
very  ancient ;  but  they  were  so  well  preserved,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  say  how  long  they  had  been  aban- 
doned, whether  for  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  before. 

Our  stores  deposited,  it  was  our  next  office  to  erect 
a  beacon  and  intrust  to  it  our  tidings.  We  chose  for 
this  purpose  the  Western  Cape  of  Littleton  Island. 
as  more  conspicuous  than  Cape  Hatherton ;  built  our 
cairn ;  wedged  a  staff  into  the  crevices  of  the  rocks ; 
and,  spreading  the  American  flag,  hailed  its  folds  with 
three  cheers  as  they  expanded  in  the  cold  midnight 
breeze.  These  important  duties  performed, — the  more 
lightly,  let  me  say,  for  this  little  flicker  of  enthusiasm, 
— we  rejoined  the  brig  early  in  the  morning  of  the 
7th,  and  forced  on  again  toward  the  north,  beating 
against  wind  and  tide. 


\ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CLOSING     WITH     THE     ICE  —  REFUGE     HARBOR  —  DOGS  —  WALRUS  — 
NARWHAL  —  ICE-HILLS  —  BEACON-CAIRN  —  ANCHORED   TO   A    BERG 

—  ESQUIMAUX     HUTS  —  PETER     EORCE     BAY CAPE      CORNELIUS 

GRINNELL  —  SHALLOW^S A    GALE THE   RECREANT   DOGS. 

"August  8,  Monday. — I  had  seen  the  ominous  blink 
ahead  of  us  from  the  Flagstaff  Point  of  Littleton  Island; 
and  before  two  hours  were  over,  we  closed  with  ice  to 
the  westward.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  pack,  very 
heavy,  and  several  seasons  old;  but  we  stood  on, 
boring  the  loose  stream-ice,  until  we  had  passed  some 
forty  miles  beyond  Cape  Life-boat  Cove.  Here  it  be- 
came impossible  to  force  our  way  farther ;  and,  a  dense 
fog  gathering  round  us,  we  were  carried  helplessly  to 
the  eastward.  We  should  have  been  forced  upon  the 
Greenland  coast ;  but  an  eddy  close  in  shore  released 
us  for  a  few  moments  from  the  direct  pressure,  and  we 
were  fortunate  enough  to  get  out  a  whale-line  to  the 
rocks  and  warp  into  a  protecting  niche. 

"  In  the  evening  I  ventured  out  again  with  the  change 
of  tide,  but  it  was  only  to  renew  a  profitless  conflict. 
The  flood,  encountering  the  southward  movement  of 

54 


REFUGE      HARBOR, 


55 


the  floes,  drove  them  in  upon  the  shore,  and  with  such 
rapidity  and  force  as  to  carry  the  smaller  bergs  along 
with  them.  We  were  too  happy,  when,  after  a  manful 
struosiie  of  some  hours,  we  found  ourselves  once  more 

Do  ^ 


(jut  of  their  range. 


"Our  new  position  was  rather  nearer  to  the  south 
than  the  one  we  had  left.     It  was  in  a  beautiful  cove. 


REFUGE   HARBOR. 


landlocked  from  east  to  west,  and  accessible  only  from 
the  north.  Here  we  moored  our  vessel  securelj^  by 
hawsers  to  the  rocks,  and  a  whale-line  carried  out  to 
the  narrow  entrance.  x\.t  McGary's  suggestion,  I  called 
it  '  Fog  Inlet ;'  Ijut  we  afterward  remembered  it  more 
thankfully  as  Refuge  Harbor.  ^^^^ 

"August  9,  Tuesday. — It  may  be  noted  among  our 
little  miseries  that  we  have  more  than  fifty  dogs  on 


56  DOGS WALRUS NARWHAL. 


board,  the  majority  of  whom  might  rather  be  charac- 
terized as  'ravening  wolves.'  To  feed  this  family, 
upon  whose  strength  our  progress  and  success  depend, 
IS  really  a  difficult  matter.  The  absence  of  shore  or 
land  ice  to  the  south  in  Baffin's  Bay  has  prevented 
our  rifles  from  contributing  any  material  aid  to  our 
commissariat.  Our  tw^o  bears  lasted  the  cormorants 
but  eight  days;  and  to  feed  them  upon  the  meagre 
allowance  of  two  pounds  of  raw  flesh  every  other  day 
is  an  almost  impossible  necessity.  Only  yesterday 
they  were  ready  to  eat  the  caboose  up,  for  I  would 
not  give  them  pemmican.  Corn  meal  or  beans,  which 
Penny's  dogs  fed  on,  they  disdain  to  touch ;  and  salt 
junk  would  kill  them. 

"Accordingly,  I  started  out  this  morning  to  hunt 
walrus,  with  which  the  Sound  is  teeming.  We  saw  at 
least  fifty  of  these  dusky  monsters,  and  approached 
many  groups  within  twenty  paces.  But  our  rifle-balls 
reverberated  from  their  hides  like  cork  pellets  from  a 
pop-gun  target,  and  we  could  not  get  within  harpoon 
distance  of  one.  Later  in  the  day,  however,  Ohlsen, 
climbing  a  neighboring  hill  to  scan  the  l^orizon  and 
see  if  the  ice  had  slackened,  found  the  dead  carcass  of 
a  narwhal  or  sea-unicorn  :  a  happy  discovery,  which 
has  secured  for  us  at  least  six  hundred  pounds  of  good 
fetid  wholesome  flesh.  The  length  of  the  narwhal  was 
Iburteen  feet,  and  his  process,  or  'horn,'  from  the  tip 
to  its  bony  encasement,  four  feet — hardly  half  the  size 
of  the  noble  specimen  I  presented  to  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  after  my  last  cruise. ^"^  We  built  a  fire 


-*, 


I  C  E  -  II  I  L  L  S. 


57 


on  the  rocks,  and  melted  down  his  blubber:    he  will 
yield  readily  two  barrels  of  oil. 

"While  we  were  engaged  getting  our  narwhal  on 
board,  the  wind  hauled  round  to  the  southwest,  and 
the  ice  began  to  travel  ba>ck  rapidly  to  the  north. 
This  looks  as  if  the  resistance  to  the  northward  was 
not  very  permanent :   there  must  be  either  great  ai'eas 


ICE-HILLS   ON   THE   COAST 


lOVE   REFUGE   HARBOR. 


of  relaxed  ice  or  open-water  leads  along  the  shore. 
But  the  choking  up  of  the  floes  on  our  eastern  side 
still  prevents  an  attempt  at  progress.  This  ice  is  the 
heaviest  I  have  seen  ;  and  its  accumulation  on  the 
coast  produces  barricades,  more  like  bergs  than  hum- 
mocks. One  of  these  rose  perpendicularly  more  than 
sixty  feet.     Except  the  'ice-hills'  of  Admiral  Wrangell, 


58  BEACON-CAIRN. 


on  the  coast  of  Arctic  Asia,  nothing  of  ice-upheaval 
has  ever  been  described  equal  to  this/^^^ 

"  Still,  anxious  beyond  measure  to  get  the  vessel  re- 
leased, I  forced  a  boat  through  the  drift  to  a  point 
about  a  mile  north  of  us,  from  which  I  could  overlook 
the  sound.  There  was  nothing  to  be  seen  but  a  melan- 
choly extent  of  impacted  drift,  stretching  northward 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  I  erected  a  small  beacon- 
cairn  on  the  point  5  and,  as  I  had  neither  paper,  pencil, 
nor  jDennant,  I  burnt  a  K.  with  powder  on  the  rock, 
and  scratching  0.  K.  with  a  pointed  bullet  on  my  cap- 
lining,  hoisted  it  as  the  representative  of  a  flag."'^' 

With  the  small  hours  of  Wednesday  morning  came 
a  breeze  from  the  southwest,  which  was  followed  by 
such  an  apparent  relaxation  of  the  floes  at  the  slack- 
water  of  flood-tide  that  I  resolved  to  attem]3t  an  escape 
Irom  our  little  basin.  We  soon  warped  to  a  narrow 
cul-de-sac  between  the  main  pack  on  one  side  and  the 
rocks  on  the  other,  and  after  a  little  trouble  made  our- 
selves fast  to  a  berg.  ^    ■ 

There  was  a  small  indentation  ahead,  which  I  had 
noticed  on  my  boat  reconnoissance ;  and,  as  the  breeze 
seemed  to  be  freshening,  I  thought  we  might  venture 
for  it.  But  the  floes  were  too  strong  for  us  :  our  eight- 
inch  hawser  parted  like  a  whip-cord.     There  was  no 

*  It  was  our  custom,  in  obedience  to  a  general  order,  to  build  cairns 
and  leave  notices  at  every  eligible  point.  One  of  these,  rudely  marked, 
much  as  I  bave  described  this  one,  was  found  by  Captain  Hartstene, 
and,  strange  to  say,  was  the  only  direct  memorial  of  my  whereabouts 
communicated  from  some  hundred  of  beacons. 


ANCHORED     TO     A     BERG.  59 


time  for  hesitation.  I  crowded  sail  and  bored  into  the 
drift,  leaving  Mr.  Sontag  and  three  men  upon  the  ice  : 
we  did  not  reclaim  them  till,  after  some  hours  of  adven- 
ture, we  brought  up  under  the  lee  of  a  grounded  berg. 

I  pass  without  notice  our  successive  efforts  to  work 
the  vessel  to  seaward  through  the  floes.  Each  had  its 
somewhat  varied  incidents,  but  all  ended  in  failure  to 
make  progress.  We  found  ourselves  at  the  end  of  the 
day's  struggles  close  to  the  same  imperfectly-defined 
headland  which  I  have  marked  on  the  chart  as  Cape 
Cornelius  Grinnell,  yet  separated  from  it  by  a  barrier 
of  ice,  and  with  our  anchors  planted  in  a  berg. 

In  one  of  the  attempts  which  I  made  with  my  boat 
to  detect  some  pathway  or  outlet  for  the  brig,  I  came 
upon  a  long  rocky  ledge,  with  a  sloping  terrace  on  its 
southern  face,  strangely  green  with  sedges  and  poppies. 
I  had  learned  to  refer  these  unusual  traces  of  vegeta- 
tion to  the  fertilizing  action  of  the  refuse  which  gathers 
about  the  habitations  of  men.  Yet  I  was  startled,  as  T 
walked  round  its  narrow  and  dreary  limits,  to  find  an 
Esquimaux  hut,  so  perfect  in  its  preservation  that  a 
few  hours'  labor  would  have  rendered  it  habitable. 
There  were  bones  of  the  walrus,  fox,  and  seal,  scattered 
round  it  in  small  quantities ;  a  dead  dog  was  found 
close  by,  with  the  flesh  still  on  his  bones ;  and,  a  little 
farther  off,  a  bear-skin  garment  that  retained  its  fur. 
In  fact,  for  a  deserted  homestead,  the  scene  had  so 
little  of  the  air  of  desolation  about  it  that  it  cheered 
my  good  fellows  perceptibly. 

The   scenery  beyond,  upon  the  main  shore,  might 


60 


E  S  Q  U  1  M  A  U  X      11  U  T  S. 


ESQUIMAUX       HUT, 


have  impressed  men  whose  thoughts  were  not  (Other- 
wise absorbed.  An  opening  through  the  cliffs  ot"  trap 
rock  disclosed  a  valley  slope  and  distant  rolling  hills, — 
in  fine  contrast  with  the  black  precipices  in  front, — 
and  a  stream  that  came  tumbling  through  the  gorge  : 
we  could  hear  its  pastoral  music  even  on  board  the 
brig,  when  the  ice  clamor  intermitted. 

The  water  around  was  so  shoal  that  at  three  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  shore  w^e  had  but  twelve-feet 
soundings  at  low  tide.  Great  rocks,  well  "worn  and 
rounded,  that  must  have  been  floated  out  by  the  ice  at 
some  former  period,  rose  above  the  Avater  at  a  half 
mile's  distance,  and  the  inner  drift  had  fastened  itself 
about  them  in  fantastic  shapes.  The  bergs,  too,  were 
aground  well  out  to  seaward ;  and  the  cape  ahead  was 
completely  packed  with  the  ice  which  they  hemmed 


PETER     FORCE      BAT. 


61 


in.  Tied  up  as  we  were  to  our  own  berg,  we  were  for 
the  time  in  safety,  though  making  no  progress ;  but  to 
cast  loose  and  tear  out  into  the  pack  was  to  risk  pro- 
gress in  the  wrong  direction. 

''August  12,  Friday. — After  careful  consideration,  1 
have  determined  to  try  for  a  further  northing,  by  fol- 


PREPARING      TO       ENTER      THE       SHALLOWS  —  BEDEVILLED      REACH 
FORCE      BAY. 


lowing  the  coast-line.  At  certain  stages  of  the  tides — 
generally  from  three-quarters  flood  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ebb — the  ice  evidently  relaxes  enough  to 
give  a  partial  opening  close  along  the  land.  The 
strength  of  our  vessel  we  have  tested  pretty  tho- 
roughly :  if  she  will  bear  the  frequent  groundings  that 
we  must  look  for,  I  am  persuaded  we  may  seek  these 
openings,  and   warp    along   them   from    one    lump   of 


62 


CAPE  CORNELIUS  GRIN  NELL. 


grounded  ice  to  another.  The  water  is  too  shoal  for 
ice  masses  to  float  in  that  are  heavy  enough  to  make 
a  nip  very  dangerous.  I  am  preparing  the  little  brig 
for  this  novel  navigation,  clearing  her  decks,  securing 
things  below  with  extra  lashings,  and  getting  out 
spars,  to  serve  in.  case  of  necessity  as  shores  to  keep 
her  on  an  even  keel. 


CAPE      CORNELIUS      GRINNELL. 


"August  13,  Saturday. — As  long  as  we  remain  en- 
tangled in  the  wretched  shallows  of  this  bight,  the  long 
precipitous  cape  ahead  may  prevent  the  north  wind 
from  clearing  us ;  and  the  nearness  of  the  cliffs  will 
probably  give  us  squalls  and  flaivs.  Careful  angular 
distances  taken  between  the  shore  and  the  chain  of 
bergs  to  seaward  show  that  these  latter  do  not  budge 
with  either  wind  or  tide.     It  looks  as  if  we  were  to 


SHALLOWS  —  A     GALE.  63 


have  a  change  of  weather.  Is  it  worth  another  attempt 
to  warp  out  and  see  if  we  cannot  double  these  bergs  to 
seaward  ?  I  have  no  great  time  to  spare :  the  young 
ice  forms  rapidly  in  quiet  spots  during  the  entire 
twenty-four  hours. 

"August  14,  Sunday. — The  change  of  weather  yester- 
day tempted  us  to  forsake  our  shelter  and  try  another 
tussle  with  the  ice.  We  met  it  as  soon  as  we  ventured 
out ;  and  the  day  closed  with  a  northerly  progress,  by 
hard  warping,  of  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  The 
men  were  well  tired ;  but  the  weather  looked  so 
threatening,  that  I  had  them  up  again  at  three  o'clock 
this  morning.  My  immediate  aim  is  to  attain  a  low 
rocky  island  which  we  see  close  into  the  shore,  about 
a  mile  ahead  of  us.  ■ , 

"These  low  shallows  are  evidently  caused  by  the 
rocks  and  foreign  materials  discharged  from  the  great 
valley.  It  is  impossible  to  pass  inside  of  them,  for  the 
huge  boulders  run  close  to  the  shore. ^^^^  Yet  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  doubling  them  outside,  without  leaving 
the  holding-ground  of  the  coast  and  thrusting  our- 
selves into  the  drifting  chaos  of  the  pack.  If  we  can 
only  reach  the  little  islet  ahead  of  us,  make  a  lee  of 
its  rocky  crests,  and  hold  on  there  until  the  winds  give 
us  fairer  prospects ! 

"Midnight. — We  did  reach  it;  and  just  in  time.  At 
11 '30  P.M.  our  first  whale-line  was  made  fast  to  the 
rocks.  Ten  minutes  later,  the  breeze  freshened,  and 
so  directly  in  our  teeth  that  we  could  not  have  gained 
our  mooring-ground.     It  is  blowing  a  gale  now,  and 


64  THE      RECREANT      DOGS. 


the  ice  driving  to  the  northward  before  it;  but  we 
can  rely  upon  our  hawsers.  All  behind  us  is  now 
solid  pack. 

"August  15,  Monday. — We  are  still  fast,  and,  from 
the  grinding  of  the  ice  against  the  southern  cape,  the 
wind  is  doubtlessly  blowing  a  strong  gale  from  the 
southward.  Once,  early  this  morning,  the  wind  shifted 
by  a  momentary  flaw,  and  came  from  the  northward, 
throwing  our  brig  with  slack  hawser  upon  the  rocks. 
Though  she  bumped  heavily  she  started  nothing,  till 
we  got  out  a  stern-line  to  a  grounded  iceberg. 

"August  16,  Tuesday. — Fast  still;  the  wind  dying 
out  and  the  ice  outside  closing  steadily.  And  here, 
for  all  I  can  see,  we. must  hang  on  for  the  winter,  un- 
less Providence  shall  send  a  smart  ice-shattering  breeze, 
to  open  a  road  for  us  to  the  northward. 

"  More  bother  with  these  wretched  dogs  !  worse  than 
a  street  of  Constantinople  emptied  upon  our  decks ; 
the  unruly,  thieving,  mid-beast  pack !  Not  a  bear's 
paw,  or  an  Esquimaux  cranium,  or  basket  of  mosses, 
or  any  specimen  whatever,  can  leave  your  hands  for  a 
moment  without  their  making  a  rush  at  it,  and,  after 
a  yelping  scramble,  swallowing  it  at  a  gulp.  I  have 
seen  them  attempt  a  whole  feather  bed ;  and  here,  this 
very  morning,  one  of  my  Karsuk  brutes  has  eaten  up 
two  entire  birds'-nests  which  I  had  just  before  gathered 
from  the  rocks ;  feathers,  filth,  pebbles,  and  moss, — a 
peckful  at  the  least.  One  was  a  perfect  specimen  of 
the  nest  of  the  tridactyl,  the  other  of  the  big  burgo- 
master. 


THE     RECREANT     DOGS. 


65 


"  When  we  reach  a  floe,  or  berg,  or  temporary  har- 
bor, they  start  out  in  a  body,  neither  voice  nor  lash 
restraining  them,  and  scamper  off  like  a  drove  of  hogs 
in  an  Illinois  oak-opening.  Two  of  our  largest  left 
themselves  behind  at  Fog  Inlet,  and  we  had  to  send 
off  a  boat  party  to-day  to  their  rescue.  It  cost  a  pull 
through  ice  and  water  of  about  eight  miles  before  they 
found  the  recreants,  fat  and  saucy,  beside  the  carcass 
of  the  dead  narwhal.  After  more  than  an  hour  spent 
in  attempts  to  catch  them,  one  was  tied  and  brought 
on  board ;  but  the  other  suicidal  scamp  had  to  be  left 
to  his  fate."  (^^^ 


DEGRADED      BERG. 


Vol.  I.— 5 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE  ERIC  ON  A  BERG  —  GODSEND  LEDGE  —  HOLDING  ON  —  ADRIFT  — 

SCUDDING  —  TOWED   BY  A  BERG UNDER   THE    CLIFFS  —  NIPPING3 

—  AGROUND  —  ICE   PRESSURE AT   REST. 

"August  16,  Tuesday. — The  formation  of  the  joiing 
ice  seems  to  be  retarded  by  the  clouds :  its  greatest 
nightly  freezing  has  been  three-quarters  of  an  inch. 
But  I  have  no  doubt,  if  we  had  continued  till  now  in 
our  little  Refuge  Harbor,  the  winter  would  have  closed 
around  us,  without  a  single  resource  or  chance  for 
escape.  Where  we  are  now,  I  cannot  help  thinking 
our  embargo  must  be  temporary.  Ahead  of  us  to  the 
northeast  is  the  projecting  headland,  which  terminates 
the  long  shallow  curve  of  Bedevilled  Reach.  This 
serves  as  a  lee  to  the  northerly  drift,  and  forms  a 
Ijight  into  which  the  south  winds  force  the  ice.  The 
heavy  floes  and  bergs  that  are  aground  outside  of  us 
have  encroached  upon  the  lighter  ice  of  the  reach,  and 
choke  its  outlet  to  the  sea.  But  a  wind  off  shore 
would  start  this  whole  pack,  and  leave  us  free.  Mean- 
while, for  our  comfort,  a  strong  breeze   is  setting  in 

66 


THE     ERIC     ON     A     BERG. 


67 


^ 


from  the  southward,  and  the  probabilities  are  that  it 
will  freshen  to  a  gale. 

"August  17,  Wednesday. — This  morning  I  pushed 
out  into  the  drift,  with  the  useful  little  specimen  of 
naval  architecture,  which  I  call  'Eric  the  Red,'  but 
which  the  crew  have  named,  less  poetically,  the  'Red 


r 


THE      RED      BOAT       FORCED      ON      AN      ICEBERG. 


Boat.'  We  succeeded  in  forcing  her  on  to  one  of  the 
largest  bergs  of  the  chain  ahead,  and  I  climbed  it,  in 
the  hope  of  seeing  something  like  a  lead  outside,  which 
might  be  reached  by  boring.  But  there  was  nothing 
of  the  sort.  The  ice  looked  as  if  perhaps  an  off-shore 
wiiid  might  spread  it;   but,  save  a  few  meagre  pools, 


G8  GODSEND     LEDGE. 


which  from  our  lofty  eminence  looked  like  the  merest 
ink-spots  on  a  table-cloth,  not  a  mark  of  water  could  be 
seen.  I  could  see  our  eastern  or  Greenland  coast  ex- 
tending on,  headland  after  headland,  no  less  than  five 
of  them  in  number,  until  they  faded  into  the  mys- 
terious North.     Every  thing  else.  Ice  ! 

''Up  to  this  time  we  have  had  but  two  reliable  ob- 
servations to  determine  our  geographical  position  since 
entering  Smith's  Sound.  These,  however,  were  care- 
fully made  on  shore  by  theodolite  and  artificial  hori- 
zons ;  and,  if  our  five  chronometers,  rated  but  two 
weeks  ago  at  Upernavik,  are  to  be  depended  upon, 
there  can  be  no  correspondence  between  my  own  and 
the  Admiralty  charts  north  of  latitude  78°  18'.  Not 
only  do  I  remove  the  general  coast-line  some  two  de- 
grees in  longitude  to  the  eastward,  but  its  trend  is 
altered  sixty  degrees  of  angular  measurement.  No 
landmarks  of  my  predecessor.  Captain  Inglefield,  are 
recognisable.^^^^  ■  .  - 

"In  the  afternoon  came  a  gale  from  the  southward. 
We  had  some  rough  rubbing  from  the  floe-pieces,  with 
three  heavy  hawsers  out  to  the  rocks  of  our  little  ice- 
breaker ;  but  we  held  on.  Toward  midnight,  our  six- 
inch  line,  the  smallest  of  the  three,  parted;  but  the 
other  two  held  bravely.  Feeling  what  good  service 
this  island  has  done  us,  what  a  Godsend  it  was  to 
reach  her,  and  how  gallantly  her  broken  rocks  have 
protected  us  from  the  rolling  masses  of  ice  that  grind 
by  her,  we  have  agreed  to  remember  this  anchorage  as 
'Godsend  Led.2;e.' 


HOLDING     ON.  69 


"  The  walrus  are  verj  numerous,  approaching  within 
twenty  feet  of  us,  shaking  their  grim  wet  fronts,  and 
mowing  with  their  tusks  the  sea-ripples. 

"August  19,  Friday. — The  sky  looks  sinister:  a  sort 
of  scowl  overhangs  the  blink  under  the  great  brow  of 
clouds  to  the  southward.  The  dovekies  seem  to  dis- 
trust the  weather,  for  they  have  forsaken  the  channel ; 
but  the  walrus  curvet  around  us  in  crowds.  I  have 
always  heard  that  the  close  approach  to  land  of  these 
sphinx-faced  monsters  portends  a  storm.  I  was  anxious 
to  find  a  better  shelter,  and  warped  j^esterday  well 
down  to  the  south  end  of  the  ledge ;  but  I  could  not 
venture  into  the  floes  outside,  without  risking  the  loss 
of  my  dearly-earned  ground.  It  may  prove  a  hard 
gale ;  but  we  must  wait  it  out  patiently. 

"August  20,  Saturday,  3 J  p.m. — By  Saturday  morn- 
ing it  blew  a  perfect  hurricane.  We  had  seen  it  coming, 
and  were  ready  with  three  good  hawsers  out  ahead, 
and  all  things  snug  on  board. 

"Still  it  came  on  heavier  and  heavier,  and  the  ice 
began  to  drive  more  wildly  than  I  thought  I  had  ever 
seen  it.  I  had  just  turned  in  to  warm  and  dry  myself 
during  a  momentary  lull,  and  was  stretching  myself 
out  in  my  bunk,  when  I  heard  the  sliar23  twanging 
snap  of  a  cord.  Our  six-inch  hawser  had  parted,  and 
we  were  swinging  by  the  two  others ;  the  gale  roaring 
like  a  lion  to  the  southward. 

"Half  a  minute  more,  and  'twang,  twang!'  came  a 
second  report.  I  knew  it  was  the  whale-line  by  the 
shrillness  of  the  ring.     Our  noble  ten-inch  manilla  still 


70 


ADRIFT. 


held  on.  I  was  hurrying  my  last  sock  into  its  seal- 
skin boot,  when  McGary  came  waddling  down  the 
companion-ladders  : — '  Captain  Kane,  she  won't  hold 
much  longer :  it's  blowing  the  devil  himself,  and  I  am 
afraid  to  surge.' 

"  The  manilla  cable  was  proving  its  excellence  when 
I  reached  the  deck;    and  the  crew,  as  they  gathered 


PARTING      HAWSERS     OFF      GODSEND      LEDGE. 


round  me,  were  loud  in  its  praises.  We  could  hear  its 
deep  Eolian  chant,  swelhng  through  all  the  rattle  of 
the  running-gear  and  moaning  of  the  shrouds.  It  was 
the  death-song !  The  strands  gave  way,  with  the  noise 
of  a  shotted  gun  ;  and,  in  the  smoke  that  followed  their 
recoil,  we  were  dragged  out  by  the  wild  ice,  at  its  mercy. 


m 

i    ^ 


5  o 


© 


OUR     BEST     BOWER     GONE.  71 


"We  steadied  and  did  some  petty  warping,  and  got 
the  brig  a  good  bed  in  the  rushing  drift;  but  it  all 
came  to  nothing.  We  then  tried  to  beat  baciv  through 
the  narrow  ice-clogged  water-way,  that  was  driving,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  "wide,  between  the  shore  and  the 
pack.  It  cost  us  two  hours  of  hard  labor,  I  thought 
skilfully  bestowed ;  but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  we  were 
at  least  four  miles  off,  opposite  the  great  valley  in  the 
centre  of  Bedevilled  Reach.^^^^  Ahead  of  us,  farther  to 
the  north,  we  could  see  the  strait  growing  still  nar- 
rower, and  the  heavy  ice-tables  grinding  up,  and  clog- 
ging it  between  the  shore-cliffs  on  one  side  and  the 
ledge  on  the  other.  There  was  but  one  thing  left  for 
us ; — to  keep  in  some  sort  the  command  of  the  helm, 
by  going  freely  where  we  must  otherwise  be  driven. 
We  allowed  her  to  scud  under  a  reefed  foretopsail ;  all 
hands  watching  the  enemy,  as  we  closed,  in  silence. 

"At  seven  in  the  morning,  we  were  close  upon  the 
piling  masses.  We  dropped  our  heaviest  anchor  with 
the  desperate  hope  of  winding  the  brig ;  but  there  was 
no  withstanding  the  ice-torrent  that  followed  us.  We 
had  only  time  to  fasten  a  spar  as  a  buoy  to  the  chain, 
and  let  her  slip.     So  went  our  best  bower ! 

"Down  we  went  upon  the  gale  again,  helplessly 
scraping  along  a  lee  of  ice  seldom  less  than  thirty  feet 
thick;  one  floe,  measured  by  a  line  as  we  tried  to 
fasten  to  it,  more  than  forty.  I  had  seen  such  ice  only 
once  before,  and  never  in  such  rapid  motion.  One  up- 
turned mass  rose  above  our  gunwale,  smashing  in  our 
bulwarks,  and  depositing  half  a  ton  of  ice  in  a  lump 


72  TOWED      BY     A     BERG. 


upon  our  decks.  Our  stanch  little  brig  bore  herself 
through  all  this  wild  adventure  as  if  she  had  a 
charmed  life.  .  .     •  ' 

"But  a  new  enemy  came  in  sight  ahead.  Directly  in 
our  way,  just  beyond  the  line  of  floe-ice  against  which 
we  were  alternately  sliding  and  thumping,  was  a  group 
of  bergs.  We  had  no  power  to  avoid  them ;  and  the 
only  question  was,  whether  we  were  to  be  dashed  in 
pieces  against  them,  or  whether  they  might  not  offer 
us  some  providential  nook  of  refuge  from  the  storm. 
But,  as  we  neared  them,  we  perceived  that  they  were 
at  some  distance  from  the  floe-edge,  and  separated  from 
it  by  an  interval  of  open  water.  Our  hopes  rose,  as  the 
gale  drove  us  toward  this  passage,  and  into  it ;  and  we 
were  ready  to  exult,  when,  from  some  unexplained 
cause, — probably  an  eddy  of  the  wind  against  the  lofty 
ice-walls, — we  lost  our  headway.  Almost  at  the  same 
moment,  we  saw  that  the  bergs  were  not  at  rest ;  that 
with  a  momentum  of  their  own  they  were  bearing 
down  upon  the  other  ice,  and  that  it  must  be  our  fate 
to  be  crushed  between  the  two. 

"Just  then,  abroad  sconce-piece  or  low  water-washed 
berg  came  driving  up  from  the  southward.  The  thought 
flashed  upon  me  of  one  of  our  escapes  in  Melville  Bay; 
and  as  the  sconce  moved  rapidly  close  alongside  us, 
McGary  managed  to  plant  an  anchor  on  its  slope  and 
hold  on  to  it  hj  a  whale-line.  It  was  an  anxious  mo- 
ment. Our  noble  tow-horse,  whiter  than  the  23ale  horse 
that  seemed  to  be  jDursuing  us,  hauled  us  bravely  on ; 
the  spray  dashing  over  his  windward  flanks,  and  his 


UNDER     THE      CLIFFS. 


73 


forehead  ploughing  up  the  lesser  ice  as  if  in  scorn. 
The  bergs  encroached  upon  us  as  we  advanced :  our 
channel  narrowed  to  a  width  of  perhaps  forty  feet :  we 
braced  the  yards  to  clear  the  impending  ice-walls. 

" . .  .  .  We  passed  clear ;  but  it  was  a  close  shave, — 
so  close  that  our  port  quarter-boat  would  have  been 
crushed  if  we  had  not  taken  it  in  from  the  davits, — 
and  found  ourselves  under  the  lee  of  a  berg,  in  a 
comparatively  open  lead.  Never  did  heart-tried  men 
acknowledge  with  more  gratitude  their  merciful  de- 
liverance from  a  wretched  death.  .  . . 

"  The  day  had  already  its  full  share  of  trials ;  but 
there  were  more  to  come.  A  flaw  drove  us  from  our 
shelter,  and  the  gale  soon  carried  us  beyond  the  end 
of  the  lead.  We  were  again  in  the  ice,  sometimes 
escaping  its  onset  by  warping,  sometimes  forced  to  rely 
on  the  strength  and  buoyancy  of  the  brig  to  stand  its 
pressure,  sometimes  scudding  wildly  through  the  half- 
open  drift.  Our  jib-boom  was  snapped  off  in  the  cap ; 
we  carried  away  our  barricade 
stanchions,  and  were  forced  to 
leave  our  little  Eric,  with  three 
brave  fellows  and  their  warps, 
out  upon  the  floes  behind  us. 

'•A  little  pool  of  open  water 
received  us  at  last.  It  was  just 
beyond  a  lofty  cape  that  rose  up 
like  a  wall,  and  under  an  iceberg 

that  anchored  itself  between  us  

and  the  gale.     And  here,  close        under  ihe  cliffs 


74  T  H  E      N  I  P  P  I  N  G  S. 


under  the  frowning  shore  of  Greenland,  ten  miles 
nearer  the  Pole  than  our  holding-ground  of  the  morn- 
ing, the  men  have  turned  in  to  rest. 

"I  was  afraid  to  join  them;  for  the  gale  was  un- 
broken, and  the  floes  kept  pressing  heavily  ujDon  our 
berg, — at  one  time  so  heavily  as  to  sway  it  on  its  ver- 
tical axis  toward  the  shore,  and  make  its  pinnacle 
overhang  our  vessel.  My  poor  fellows  had  but  a  pre- 
carious sleep  before  our  little  harbor  was  broken  ujd. 
They  hardly  reached  the  deck,  when  we  were  driven 
astern,  our  rudder  splintered,  and  the  pintles  torn 
from  their  boltings.         ,      - 

"Now  began  the  nippings.  The  first  shock  took  us 
on  our  portr-quarter;  the  brig  bearing  it  well,  and,  after 
a  moment  of  the  old-fashioned  suspense,  rising  by  jerks 
handsomely.  The  next  was  from  a  veteran  floe, 
tongued  and  honeycombed,  but  floating  in  a  single 
table  over  twenty  feet  in  thickness.  Of  course,  no 
wood  or  iron  could  stand  this ;  but  the  shoreward  face 
of  our  iceberg  happened  to  present  an  inclined  plane, 
descending  deep  into  the  water;  and  up  this  the  brig 
was  driven,  as  if  some  great  steam  screw-power  was 
forcing  her  into  a  dry  dock. 

"At  one  time  I  expected  to  see  her  carried  bodily 
up  its  face  and  tumbled  over  on  her  side.  But  one  of 
those  mysterious  relaxations,  which  I  have  elsewhere 
called  the  pulses  of  the  ice,  lowered  us  quite  gradually 
down  again  into  the  rubbish,  and  we  were  forced  out 
of  the  line  of  pressure  toward  the  shore.  Here  we 
succeeded  in  carrying  out  a  warp,  and  making  fast. 


THE     BRIG     AGROUND.  75 


We  grounded  as  the  tide  fell ;  and  would  have  heeled 
over  to  seaward,  but  for  a  mass  of  detached  land-ice 
that  grounded  alongside  of  us,  and,  although  it  stove 
our  bulwarks  as  we  rolled  over  it,  shored  us  up." 

I  could  hardly  get  to  my  bunk,  as  I  went  down 
into  our  littered  cabin  on  the  Sunday  morning  after 
our  hard-working  vigil  of  thirty-six  hours.     Bags  of 


SHORED      UP. 


clothing,  food,  tents,  India-rubber  blankets,  and  the 
hundred  little  personal  matters  which  every  man  likes 
to  save  in  a  time  of  trouble,  were  scattered  around  in 
places  where  the  owners  thought  they  might  have 
them  at  hand.  The  pemmican  had  been  on  deck,  the 
boats  equipped,  and  every  thing  of  real  importance 
ready  for  a  march,  many  hours  before. 

During  the  whole  of  the  scenes  I  have  been  trying 


76  ICE     PRESSURE. 


to  describe,  I  could  not  help  being  struck  by  the  com- 
posed and  manly  demeanor  of  mj  comrades.  The  tur- 
moil of  ice  under  a  heavy  sea  often  conveys  the  im- 
pression of  danger  when  the  reality  is  absent ;  but  in 
this  fearful  passage,  the  parting  of  our  hawsers,  the 
loss  of  our  anchors,  the  abrupt  crushing  of  our  stoven 
bulwarks,  and  the  actual  deposit  of  ice  upon  our  decks, 
would  have  tried  the  nerves  of  the  most  experienced 
icemen.  All — officers  and  men — worked  alike.  Upon 
each  occasion  of  collision  with  the  ice  which  formed 
our  lee-coast,  efforts  were  made  to  carry  out  lines; 
and  some  narrow  escapes  were  incurred,  by  the  zeal  of 
the  parties  leading  them  into  positions  of  danger.  Mr. 
Bonsall  avoided  being  crushed  by  leaping  to  a  float- 
ing fragment;  and  no  less  than  four  of  our  men  at 
one  time  were  carried  down  by  the  drift,  and  could 
only  be  recovered  by  a  relief  party  after  the  gale  had 
subsided. 

As  our  brig,  borne  on  by  the  ice,  commenced  her 
ascent  of  the  berg,  the  suspense  was  oppressive.  The 
immense  blocks  piled  against  her,  range  upon  range, 
pressing  themselves  under  her  keel  and  throwing  her 
over  upon  her  side,  till,  urged  by  the  successive  accumu- 
lations, she  rose  slowly  and  as  if  with  convulsive  efforts 
along  the  sloping  wall.  Still  there  was  no  relaxation 
of  the  impelling  force.  Shock  after  shock,  jarring  her 
to  her  very  centre,  she  continued  to  mount  steadily  on 
her  precarious  cradle.  But  for  the  groaning  of  her 
timbers  and  the  heavy  sough  of  the  floes,  we  might 
have  heard  a  pin  drop.     And   then,  as   she    settled 


BRIG     AT      REST. 


77 


down  into  her  old  position,  quietly  taking  her  place 
among  the  broken  rubbish,  there  was  a  deep-breathing 
silence,  as  though  all  were  waiting  for  some  signal 
before  the  clamor  of  congratulation  and  comment 
could  burst  forth/^^^ 


THE      RESCUE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

TRACKING INSPECTING  A  HARBOR — THE  MUSK  OX — STILL  TRACK- 
ING—  CONSULTATION  —  WARPING  AGAIN  —  AGROUND  NEAR  THE 
ICE-FOOT- — A  BREATHING  SPELL  —  THE  BOAT  EXPEDITION  — 
DEPARTURE.  .   . 

It  was  not  until  the  22d  that  the  storm  abated,  and 
our  absent  men  were  once  more  gathered  back  into 
their  mess.  During  the  interval  of  forced  inaction, 
the  little  brig  was  fast  to  the  ice-belt  which  lined  the 
bottom  of  the  cliffs,  and  all  hands  rested;  but  as  soon 
as  it  was  over,  we  took  advantage  of  the  flood-tide  to 
pass  our  tow-lines  to  the  ice-beach,  and,  harnessing 
ourselves  in  like  mules  on  a  canal,  made  a  good  three 
miles  by  tracking  along  the  coast. 

"August  22,  Monday. — Under  this  coast,  at  the  base 
of  a  frowning  precipice,  we  are  now  working  toward  a 
large  bay  which  runs  well  in,  facing  at  its  opening  to 
the  north  and  west.  I  should  save  time  if  I  could 
cross  from  headland  to  headland ;  but  I  am  obliged  to 
follow  the  tortuous  land-belt,  without  whose  aid  we 
would  go  adrift  in  the  pack  again. 

"  The  trend  of  our  line  of  operations  to-day  is  almost 

78 


TRACKING.  •  -  79 


due  east.  We  are  already  protected  from  the  south, 
but  fearfully  exposed  to  a  northerly  gale.  Of  this 
there  are  fortunately  no  indications. 

"August  23,  Tuesday. — We  tracked  along  the  ice- 
belt  for  about  one  mile,  when  the  tide  fell,  and  the 
brig  grounded,  heeling  over  until  she  reached  her  bear- 
ings. She  rose  again  at  10  p.m.,  and  the  crew  turned 
out  upon  the  ice-belt. 


TRACKING      ALONG       THE       ICE-SELT. 


"The  decided  inclination  to  the  eastward  which  the 
shore  shows  here  is  important  as  a  geographical  fea- 
ture ;  but  it  has  made  our  progress  to  the  actual  north 
much  less  than  our  wearily-earned  miles  should  count 
for  us.  Our  latitude,  determined  by  the  sun's  lower 
culmination,  if  such  a  term  can  be  applied  to  his  mid- 
night depression,  gives  78°  41'.  We  are  farther  north, 
therefore,  than  any  of  our  predecessors,  except  Parry 
on  his  Spitzbergen  foot- tramp.  There  are  those  with 
whom,  no  matter  how  insuperable  the  obstacle,  fliilure 
involves  disgrace :  we  are  safe  at  least  from  their 
censure.  i 


80 


INSPECTING     A     HARBOR. 


"  Last  night  I  sent  out  Messrs.  Wils'on,  Petersen,  and 
Bonsall,  to  inspect  a  harbor  which  seems  to  lie  between 
a  small  island  and  a  valley  that  forms  the  inner  slope 
of  our  bay.  They  report  recent  traces  of  deer,  and 
brins;  back  the  skull  of  a  musk  ox. 


SYLVIA      HEADLAND— INSPECTING      A      HARBOR. 


"Hitherto  this  animal  has  never  been  seen  east  of 
Melville  Island.  But  his  being  here  does  not  surprise 
me.  The  migratory  passages  of  the  reindeer,  who  is 
even  less  Arctic  in  his  range  than  the  musk  ox,  led  me 
to  expect  it.  The  fact  points  to  some  probable  land 
connection  between  Greenland  and  America,  or  an  ap- 


THE      MUSK     OX. 


81 


proach  sufficiently  close  to  allow  these  animals  to  mi- 
grate between  the  two. 

"The  head  is  that  of  a  male,  well-marked,  but  old; 
the  teeth  deficient,  but  the  horns  very  perfect.  These 
last  measure  two  feet  three  inches  across  from  tip  to 
tip,  and  are  each  one  foot  ten  inches  in  length  mea- 
sured to  the  medium  line  of  the  forehead,  up  to  which 
they  are  continued  in  the  characteristic  boss  or  pro- 


THE      ICE-BELT. 


tuberance.      Our  winter   may  be    greatly  cheered  by 
their  beef,  should  they  revisit  this  solitude.  ^^'^^ 

"We  have  collected  thus  far  no  less  than  twenty- 
two  species  of  flowering  plants  on  the  shores  of  this 
bay.  Scanty  as  this  starved  flora  may  seem  to  the 
botanists  of  more  favored  zones,  it  was  not  without 
surprise  and  interest  that  I  recognised  among  its  tho- 
roughly Arctic  types  many  plants  which  had  before 

Vol.  I.— 6  ^ 


82  STILL     TRACKING. 


been  considered  as  indigenous  only  to  more  southern 
latitudes/^^-* 

"The  thermometer  gave  twenty-five  degrees  last 
night,  and  the  young  ice  formed  without  intermission : 
it  is  nearly  two  inches  alongside  the  brig.  I  am  loth 
to  recognise  these  signs  of  the  advancing  cold.  Our 
latitude  to-day  gives  us  78°  37',  taken  from  a  station 
some  three  miles  inside  the  indentation  to  the  south. 

"August  24,  Wednesday, — We  have  kept  at  it,  track- 
ing along,  grounding  at  low  water,  but  working  like 
horses  when  the  tides  allowed  us  to  move.  We  are 
now  almost  at  the  bottom  of  this  indentation.  0|)posite 
us,  on  the  shore,  is  a  remarkable  terrace,  which  rises  in 
a  succession  of  steps  until  it  is  lost  in  the  low  rocks  of 
the  back  country.  The  ice  around  us  is  broken,  but 
heavy,  and  so  compacted  that  we  can  barely  penetrate 
it.  It  has  snowed  hard  since  10  p.m.  of  yesterday,  and 
the  sludge  fills  up  the  interstices  of  the  floes.  Nothing 
but  a  strong  south  wind  can  give  us  further  progress  to 
the  north. 

"August  25,  Thursday. — The  snow  of  yesterday  has 
surrounded  us  with  a  pasty  sludge ;  but  the  young  ice 
continues  to  be  our  most  formidable  opponent.  The 
mean  temperatures  of  the  22d  and  23d  were  27°  and 
30°  Fahrenheit.  I  do  not  like  being  caught  by  winter 
before  attaining  a  higher  northern  latitude  than  this, 
but  it  appears  almost  inevitable.  Favored  as  we  have 
been  by  the  mildness  of  the  summer  and  by  the  abrading 
action  of  the  tides,  there  are  indications  around  us  which 
point  to  an  early  winter. 


CONSULTATION.  83 


We  are  sufficiently  surrounded  by  ice  to  make  our 
chances  of  escape  next  year  uncertain,  and  yet  not  as 
far  as  I  could  wish  for  our  spring  journeys  by  the 
sledge. 

"August  26,  Friday. — My  officers  and  crew  are 
stanch  and  firm  men;  but  the  depressing  influences 
of  want  of  rest,  the  rapid  advance  of  winter,  and,  above 
all,  our  slow  progress,  make  them  sympathize  but  little 
with  this  continued  efflDrt  to  force  a  way  to  the  north. 
One  of  them,  an  excellent  member  of  the  party, 
volunteered  an  expression  of  opinion  this  morning  in 
favor  of  returning  to  the  south  and  giving  up  the 
attempt  to  winter." 

It  is  unjust  for  a  commander  to  measure  his  subor- 
dinates in  such  exigencies  by  his  own  standard.  The 
interest  which  they  feel  in  an  undertaking  is  of  a  dif- 
ferent nature  from  his  own.  With  him  there  are 
always  personal  motives,  apart  from  official  duty,  to 
stimulate  effi^rt.  He  receives,  if  successful,  too  large  a 
share  of  the  credit,  and  he  justly  bears  all  the  odium 
of  failure. 

An  apprehension — I  hope  a  charitable  one — of  this 
fact  leads  me  to  consider  the  opinions  jof  my  officers 
with  much  respect.  I  called  them  together  at  once,  in 
a  formal  council,  and  listened  to  their  views  in  full. 
With  but  one  exception,  Mr.  Henry  Brooks,  they  were 
convinced  that  a  further  progress  to  the  north  was 
impossible,  and  were  in  favor  of  returning  southward 
to  winter. 

Not  being  able  conscientiously  to  take  the  same  view, 


84 


WARPING     AGA^Tlsr. 


I  explained  to  them  the  importance  of  securing  a  posi- 
tion which  might  expedite  our  sledge  journeys  in  the 
future;  and,  after  assuring  them  that  such  a  position 
could  only  be  attained  by  continuing  our  efforts,  an- 
nounced my  intention  of  warping  toward  the  northern 
headland  of  the  bay.  "Once  there,  I  shall  be  able  to 
determine  from  actual  inspection  the  best  point  for  set- 


CAPE      THOMAS      LEIPER. 


ring  out  on  t]ie  operations  of  the  spring;  and  at  the 
nearest  possible  shelter  to  that  point  I  will  put  the  brig 
into  winter  harbor."  My  comrades  received  this  deci- 
sion in  a  manner  that  was  most  gratifying,  and  entered 
zealously  upon  the  hard  and  cheerless  duty  it  involved. 
The  warping  began  again,  each  man,  myself  in- 
cluded, taking  his  turn  at  the  capstan.  The  ice  seemed 
less  heavy  as  we  penetrated  into  the  recess  of  the  bay; 


AGROUND     NEAR     THE     ICE-FOOT.  85 


our  track-lines  and  shoulder-belts  replaced  the  warps. 
Hot  coffee  was  served  out ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  cheering 
songs,  our  little  brig  moved  oif  briskly. 

Our  success,  however,  was  not  complete.  At  the 
very  period  of  high-water  she  took  the  ground,  while 
close  under  the  walls  of  the  ice-foot.  It  would  have 
been  madness  to  attempt  shoring  her  up.  I  could  only 
fasten  heavy  tackle  to  the  rocks  which  lined  the  base 
of  the  cliffs,  and  trust  to  the  noble  Httle  craft's  unas- 
sisted strength.  "    ' 

"August  27,  Saturday. — We  failed,  in  spite  of  our 
efforts,  to  get  the  brig  off  with  last  night's  tide ;  and,  as 
our  night-tides  are  generally  the  highest,  I  have  some 
apprehensions  as  to  her  liberation. 

"  We  have  landed  every  thing  we  could  get  up  on  the 
rocks,  put  out  all  our  boats  and  filled  them  with  pon- 
derables alongside,  sunk  our  rudder  astern,  and  lowered 
our  remaining  heavy  anchor  into  one  of  our  quarter- 
boats.  Heavy  hawsers  are  out  to  a  grounded  lump  of 
berg-ice,  ready  for  instant  heaving. 

"Last  night  she  heeled  over  again  so  abruptly  that 
we  were  all  tumbled  out  of  our  berths.  At  the  same 
time,  the  cabin  stove  with  a  full  charge  of  glowing 
anthracite  was  thrown  down.  The  deck  blazed  smartly 
for  a  while ;  but,  by  sacrificing  Mr.  Sontag's  heavy 
pilotrcloth  coat  to  the  public  good,  I  choked  it  down 
till  water  could  be  passed  from  above  to  extinguish  it. 
It  was  fortunate  we  had  water  near  at  hand,  for  the 
powder  was  not  far  off. 

"  3  p.  M. — The  ground-ice  is  forced  in  upon  our  stern, 


8-6 


AGROUND     NEAR     THE     ICE-FOOT. 


splintering  our  rudder,  and  drawing  again  the  bolts  of 
the  pintle-casings. 

"5  P.M. — She  floats  again,  and  our  track-lines  are 
manned.  The  men  work  with  a  will,  and  the  brig 
moves  along  bravely.  .  ■ 


AGROUND   NEAR   THE   ICE-FOOT. 


"10  P.M. — Aground  again;  and  the  men,  after  a  hot 
supper,  have  turned  in  to  take  a  spell  of  sleep.  The 
brig  has  a  hard  time  of  it  with  the  rocks.  She  has  been 
high  and  dry  for  each  of  the  two  last  tides,  and  within 
three  days  has  grounded  no  less  than  five  times.  I  feel 
that  this  is  hazardous  navigation,  but  am  convinced  it 
is  my  duty  to  keep  on.     Except  the  loss  of  a  portion  of 


A     BREATHING     SPELL.  87 


our  false  keel,  we  have  sustained  no  real  injury.  The 
brig  is  still  water-tight ;  and  her  broken  rudder  and  one 
shattered  spar  can  be  easily  repaired. 

"August  28,  Sunday. — By  a  complication  of  pur- 
chases, jumpers,  and  shores,  we  started  the  brig  at 
4*10 ;  and,  Mr.  Ohlsen  having  temporarily  secured  the 
rudder,  I  determined  to  enter  the  floe  and  trust  to  the 
calm  of  the  morning  for  a  chance  of  penetrating  to  the 
northern  land-ice  ahead. 

"This  land-ice  is  very  old,  and  my  hope  is  to  get 
through  the  loose  trash  that  surrounds  it  by  springing, 
and  then  find  a  fast  that  may  serve  our  tracking-lines. 
I  am  already  well  on  my  way,  and,  in  spite  of  the  omin- 
ous nods  of  my  officers,  have  a  fair  prospect  of  reach- 
ing it.  Here  it  is  that  splicing  the  main-brace  is  of 
service  P^^  '  ■   ■'  ■     -  '  ,_ 

"  I  took  the  boat  this  morning  with  Mr.  McGary,  and 
sounded  along  outside  the  land-floe.  I  am  satisfied  the 
passage  is  practicable,  and,  by  the  aid  of  tide,  wind,  and 
springs,  have  advanced  into  the  trash  some  tAvo  hun- 
dred yards. 

"We  have  reached  the  floe,  and  find  it  as  I  hoped; 
the  only  drawback  to  tracking  being  the  excessive  tides, 
which  expose  us  to  grounding  at  low-water." 

We  had  now  a  breathing  spell,  and  I  could  find  time 
to  look  out  again  upon  the  future.  The  broken  and 
distorted  area  around  us  gave  little  promise  of  success- 
ful sledge-travel.  But  all  this  might  change  its  aspect 
under  the  action  of  a  single  gale,  and  it  was  by  no 
means  certain  that  the  ice-fields  farther  north  would 


88 


THE     BOAT     EXPEDITION. 


have  the  same  rugged  and  dispiriting  character.  Be- 
sides, the  ice-belt  was  still  before  us,  broken  sometimes 
and  difficult  to  traverse,  but  practicable  for  a  party 
on  foot,  apparently  for  miles  ahead;  and  I  felt  sure 
that  a  resolute  boat's  crew  might  push  and  track 
their  way  for  some  distance  along  it.  I  resolved  to 
make    the    trial,   and    to    judge  what    ought    to    be 


THE      FORLORN      HOPE, 


our  wintering   ground   from  a  personal  inspection  of 
the  coast. 

I  had  been  quietly  preparmg  for  such  an  expedition 
for  some  time.  Our  best  and  lightest  whale-boat  had 
been  fitted  with  a  canvas  cover,  that  gave  it  all  the 
comfort  of  a  tent.  We  had  a  supply  of  pemmican  ready 
packed  in  small  cases,  and  a  sledge  taken  to  pieces  was 
stowed  away  under  the  thwarts.     In  the  morning  of 


THE     FORLORN     HOPE.  89 


the  29th,  Mr.  Brooks,  McGary,  and  myself,  walked 
fourteen  miles  along  the  marginal  ice :  it  was  heavy 
and  compHcated  with  drift,  but  there  was  nothing  about 
it  to  make  me  change  my  purpose. 

My  boat  crew  consisted  of  seven,  all  of  them  volun- 
teers and  reliable :— Brooks,  Bonsall,  McGary,  Sontag, 
Kiley,  Blake,  and  Morton.  We  had  buffalo-robes  for 
our  sleeping-gear,  and  a  single  extra  day  suit  was  put 
on  board  as  common  property.     Each  man  carried  his 


THE   FORLORN   HOPE,   EQUIPPED. 


girdle  full  of  woollen  socks,  so  as  to  dry  them  by  the 
warmth  of  his  body,  and  a  tin  cup,  with  a  sheath-knife, 
at  the  belt :  a  soup-pot  and  lamp  for  the  mess  com- 
pleted our  outfit. 

In  less  than  three  hours  from  my  first  order,  the 
"Forlorn  Hope"  was  ready  for  her  work,  covered  with 
tin  to  prevent  her  being  cut  through  by  the  bay-ice ; 
and  at  half-past  three  in  the  afternoon  she  was  freighted, 
launched,  and  on  her  way. 

I  placed  Mr.  Ohlsen  in  command  of  the  Advance,  and 
Dr.  Hayes  in  charge  of  her  log :  Mr.  Ohlsen  with  orders 


90 


DEPARTURE. 


to  haul  the  brig  to  the  southward  and  eastward  into  a 
safe  berth,  and  there  to  await  my  return. 

Many  a  warm  shake  of  the  hand  from  the  crew  we 
left  showed  me  that  our  good-bye  was  not  a  mere  for- 
mahty.  Three  hearty  cheers  from  all  hands  followed 
us, — a  God-speed  as  we  pushed  off. 


BROKEN   RUDDER. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    DEPOT    JOURNEY  —  THE    ICE-BELT — CROSSING    MINTURN    RIVER 
—  SKELETON    MUSK    OX  —  CROSSING   THE    GLACIER  —  PORTAGE    OE 

INSTRUMENTS EXCESSIVE    BURDEN MARY    MINTURN    RIVER 

FORDING   THE    RIVER  —  THACKERAY    HEADLAND  —  CAPE      GEORGE 
RUSSELL — RETURN   TO   THE   BRIG  —  THE   WINTER   HARBOR. 

I:Nr  the  first  portions  of  our  journey,  we  found  a  nar- 
row but  obstructed  passage  between  the  ice-belt  and 
the  outside  pack.  It  was  but  a  few  yards  in  width, 
and  the  young  ice  upon  it  was  nearly  thick  enough  to 
bear  our  weight.  By  breaking  it  up  we  were  able  with 
effort  to  make  about  seven  miles  a  day. 

After  such  work,  wet,  cold,  and  hungry,  the  night's 
rest  was  very  welcome.  A  couple  of  stanchions  were 
rigged  fore  and  aft,  a  sail  tightly  spread  over  the  canvas 
cover  of  our  boat,  the  cooking-lamp  lit,  and  the  buffalo- 
robes  spread  out.  Dry  socks  replaced  the  wet ;  hot  tea 
and  pemmican  followed;  and  very  soon  we  forgot  the 
discomforts  of  the  day,  the  smokers  musing  over  their 
pipes,  and  tlie  sleepers  snoring  in  dreamless  forget- 
fulness. 

We  had  been  out  something  less  than  twenty-four 

91 


92  THE     ICE-BELT. 


hours  when  we  came  to  the  end  of  our  boating.  In 
front  and  on  one  side  was  the  j)ack,  and  on  the  other  a 
wall  some  ten  feet  above  our  heads,  the  impracticable 
ice-belt.  By  waiting  for  high  tide,  and  taking  advan- 
tage of  a  chasm  wliich  a  water-stream  had  worn  in  the 
ice,  we  managed  to  haul  up  our  boat  on  its  surface; 
but  it  was  apparent  that  we  must  leave  her  there.  She 
was  stowed  away  snugly  under  the  shelter  of  a  large 
hummock ;  and  we  pushed  forward  in  our  sledge,  laden 
with  a  few  articles  of  absolute  necessity. 

Here,  for  the  first  time,  we  were  made  aware  of  a  re- 
markable feature  of  our  travel.  We  were  on  a  table  or 
shelf  of  ice,  which  clung  to  the  base  of  the  rocks  over- 
looking the  sea,  but  itself  overhung  by  steep  and  lofty 
chffs.  Pure  and  beautiful  as  this  icy  highway  was, 
huge  angular  blocks,  some  many  tons  in  weight,  were 
scattered  over  its  surface ;  and  long  tongues  of  worn- 
down  rock  occasionally  issued  from  the  sides  of  the 
cliffs,  and  extended  across  our  course.  The  chffs 
measured  one  thousand  and  ten  feet  to  the  crest  of  the 
plateau  above  them,* 

We  pushed  forward  on  this  ice-table  shelf  as  rapidly 
as  the  obstacles  would  permit,  though  embarrassed  a 
good  deal  by  the  frequent  watercourses,  which  created 

*  The  cliffs  were  of  tabular  magnesian  limestone^  witli  interlaid  and 
inferior  sandstones.  Their  height,  measured  to  the  crest  of  the  plateau, 
was  nine  hundred  and  fifty  feet — a  fair  mean  of  the  profile  of  the  coast. 
The  height  of  the  talus  of  debris,  where  it  united  with  the  face  of  the 
clifi",  was  five  hundred  and  ninety  feet,  and  its  angle  of  inclination 
between  38°  and  45° 


* 

^-' 


CROSSING     MINTURN     RIVER.  93 


large  gorges  in  our  path,  winding  occasionally,  and 
generally  steep-sided.  We  had  to  pass  our  sledge  care- 
fully down  such  interruptions,  and  bear  it  upon  our 
shoulders,  wading,  of  course,  through  water  of  an  ex- 
tremely low  temperature.  Our  night  halts  were  upon 
knolls  of  snow  under  the  rocks.  At  one  of  these,  the 
tide  overflowed  our  tent,  and  forced  us  to  save  our 
buffalo  sleeping-gear  by  holding  it  up  until  the  water 
subsided.  This  exercise,  as  it  turned  out,  was  more  of 
a  trial  to  our  patience  than  to  our  health.  The  circu- 
lation was  assisted  perhaps  by  a  perception  of  the  ludi- 
crous. Eight  Yankee  Caryatides,  up  to  their  knees  in 
water,  and  an  entablature  sustaining  such  of  their 
household  gods  as  could  not  bear  immersion  P'^'^ 

On  the  1st  of  September,  still  following  the  ice-belt, 
we  found  that  we  were  entering  the  recesses  of  another 
bay  but  little  smaller  than  that  in  which  we  had  left 
our  brig.  The  limestone  walls  ceased  to  overhang  us ; 
we  reached  a  low  fiord,  and  a  glacier  blocked  our  way 
across  it.  A  succession  of  terraces,  rising  with  sym- 
metrical regularity,  lost  themselves  in  long  parallel 
lines  in  the  distance.  They  were  of  limestone  shingle, 
and  wet  with  the  percolation  of  the  melted  ice  of  the 
glacier.  Where  the  last  of  these  terraced  faces  abutted 
upon  the  sea,  it  blended  with  the  ice-foot,  so  as  to 
make  a  frozen  compound  of  rock  and  ice.  Here,  lying 
in  a  pasty  silt,  I  found  the  skeleton  of  a  musk  ox.  The 
head  was  united  to  the  atlas ;  but  the  bones  of  the 
spine  were  separated  about  two  inches  apart,  and  con- 
veyed the  idea  of  a  displacement  produced  rather  by 


94 


SKELETON     MUSK     OX. 


the  sliding  of  the  bed  beneath,  than  by  a  force  from 
without.  The  paste,  frozen  so  as  to  resemble  limestone 
rock,  had  filled  the  costal  cavity,  and  the  ribs  were 
beautifully  polished.  It  was  to  the  eye  an  imbedded 
fossil,  ready  for  the  museum  of  the  collector. 


THE      CLIFFS      OF      GLACIER      BAY. 


I  am  minute  in  detailing  these  appearances,  for  they 
connect  themselves  in  my  mind  with  the  fossils  of  the 
Eischoltz  cliffs  and  the  Siberian  alluvions.  I  was 
startled  at  the  facility  with  which  the  silicious  lime- 
stone, under  the  alternate  energies  of  frost  and  thaw, 
had  been  incorporated  with  the  organic  remains.     It 


CROSSING      THE     GLACIER. 


95 


had  already  begun  to  alter  the  structure  of  the  bones, 
and  in  several  instances  the  vertebrae  were  entirely 
enveloped  in  travertin. 

The  table-lands  and  ravines  round  about  this  coast 
abound  in  such  remains.  Their  numbers  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  are  scattered  imply  that  the  animals 
made  their  migrations  in  droves,  as  is  the  case  with 


CROSSING      THE      GLACIER. 


the  reindeer  now.  Within  the  area  of  a  few  acres 
we  found  seven  skeletons  and  numerous  skulls :  these 
all  occupied  the  snow-streams  or  gullies  that  led  to 
a  gorge  opening  on  the  ice-belt,  and  might  thus  be 
gathered  in  time  to  one  spot  by  the  simple  action  of 
the  watershed/^^^ 

To  cross  this  glacier  gave  us  much  trouble.    Its  sides 
were  steep,  and  a  slip  at  any  time  might  have  sent  us 


96  PORTAGE     OF     INSTRUMENTS. 


into  the  water  below.  Our  shoes  were  smooth,  unfor- 
tunately ;  but,  by  using  cords,  and  lying  at  full  length 
upon  the  ice,  we  got  over  without  accident.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  glacier  we  had  a  portage  of  about 
three  miles ;  the  sledge  being  unladen  and  the  baggage 
carried  on  our  backs.  To  Mr.  Brooks,  admitted  with 
singular  unanimity  to  be  the  strongest  man  of  our 
party,  was  voted  our  theodolite,  about  sixty  pounds  of 
well-polished  mechanism,  in  an  angular  mahogany  box. 
Our  dip-circle,  equally  far  from  being  an  honorary 
tribute,  fell  to  the  lot  of  a  party  of  volunteers,  who 
bore  it  by  turns. 

During  this  inland  crossing,  I  had  fine  opportunities 
of  maldng  sections  of  the  terraces.  We  ascertained  the 
mean  elevation  of  the  face  of  the  coast  to  be  one  thou- 
sand three  hundred  feet.  On  regaining  the  seaboard, 
the  same  frowning  cliffs  and  rock-covered  ice-belt 
that  we  had  left  greeted  us. 

After  an  absence  of  five  days,  we  found  by  observa- 
tion that  we  were  but  forty  miles  from  the  brig.  Be- 
sides our  small  daily  progress,  we  had  lost  much  by  the 
tortuous  windings  of  the  coast.  The  ice  outside  did 
not  invite  a  change  of  plan  in  that  direction;  but  I 
determined  to  leave  the  sledge  and  proceed  over  land 
on  foot.  With  the  exception  of  our  instruments,  we 
carried  no  weight  but  pemmican  and  one  buffalo-robe. 
The  weather,  as  yet  not  far  below  the  freezing-point, 
did  not  make  a  tent  essential  to  the  bivouac;  and, 
with  this  hght  equipment,  we  could  travel  readily  two 
miles  to  one  with  our  entire  outfit.     On  the  4th  of 


EXCESSIVE      BURDExY.  97 


September  we  made  twenty-four  miles  with  compara- 
tive ease,  and  were  refreshed  by  a  comfortable  sleep 
after  the  toils  of  the  day."" 

The  only  drawback  to  this  new  method  of  advance 
was  the  inability  to  carry  a  sufficient  quantity  of  food. 
Each  man  at  starting  had  a  fixed  allowance  of  pem- 
mican,  which,  with  his  other  load,  made  an  average 
weight  of  thirty-five  pounds.  It  proved  excessive  :  the 
Canadian  voyageurs  will  carry  much  more,  and  for  an 
almost  indefinite  period;  but  we  found — and  we  had 
good  walkers  in  our  party — that  a  very  few  pounds 
overweight  broke  us  down. 

Our  progress  on  the  5th  was  arrested  by  another  bay 
much  larger  than  any  we  had  seen  since  entering 
Smith's  Straits.  It  was  a  noble  sheet  of  water,  per- 
fectly open,  and  thus  in  strange  contrast  to  the  ice  out- 
side. The  cause  of  this  at  the  time  inexplicable  phe- 
nomenon was  found  in  a  roaring  and  tumultuous  river, 
which,  issuing  from  a  fiord  at  the  inner  sweep  of  the 
bay,  rolled  with  the  violence  of  a  snow-torrent  over  a 
broken  bed  of  rocks.  This  river,  the  largest  probably 
3^et  known  in  North  Greenland,  was  about  three-quar- 
ters of  a  mile  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  admitted  the  tides 
for  about  three  miles  j'^Hvhen  its  bed  rapidly  ascended, 


'■'  This  halt  was  under  the  lee  of  a  large  boulder  of  greenstone,  mea- 
suring fourteen  feet  in  its  long  diameter.  It  had  the  rude  blocking 
out  of  a  cube,  but  was  rounded  at  the  edges.  The  country  for  fourteen 
miles  around  was  of  the  low-bottom  series ;  the  nearest  greenstone  must 
have  been  many  miles  remote.     Boulders  of  syenite  were  numerous  j 

their  line  of  deposit  nearly  duo  north  and  south. 
Vol.  I. — 7 


98 


MARY     MINTURN      RIVER. 


and  could  be  traced  by  the  configuration  of  the  hills  as 
far  as  a  large  inner  fiord.  I  called  it  Mary  Minturn 
River,  after  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Henry  Grinnell.  Its 
course  was  afterward  pursued  to  an  interior  glacier, 
from  the  base  of  which  it  was  found  to  issue  in  nume- 


MARY      MINTURN      RIVER 


rous  streams,  that  united  into  a  single  trunk  about  forty 
miles  above  its  mouth.  By  the  banks  of  this  stream 
we  encamped,  lulled  by  the  unusual  music  of  running 
waters. 

Here,  protected  from  the  frost  by  the  infiltration  of 
the  melted  snows,  and  fostered  by  the  reverberation  of 


FORDING     THE      RIVER.  99 


solar  heat  from  the  rocks,  we  met  a  flower-growth, 
which,  though  drearily  Arctic  in  its  type,  was  rich  in 
variety  and  coloring.  Amid  festuca  and  other  tufted 
grasses  twinkled  the  purple  Ij'chnis  and  the  white  star 
of  the  chickweed;  and  not  without  its  pleasing  asso- 
ciations I  recognised  a  solitary  hesperis, — the  Arctic 
representative  of  the  wallflowers  of  home.'^'^^^ 

We  forded  our  way  across  this  river  in  the  morning, 
carrying  our  pemmican  as  well  as  we  could  out  of 
water,  but  submitting  ourselves  to  a  succession  of 
plunge-baths  as  often  as  we  trusted  our  weight  on  the 
ice -capped  stones  above  the  surface.  The  average 
depth  was  not  over  our  hips ;  but  the  crossing  cost  us 
so  much  labor  that  we  were  willing  to  halt  half  a  day 
to  rest. 

Some  seven  miles  farther  on,  a  large  cape  projects 
into  this  bay,  and  divides  it  into  two  indentations,  each 
of  them  the  seat  of  minor  watercourses,  fed  by  the  gla- 
ciers. From  the  numerous  tracks  found  in  the  moss- 
beds,  they  would  seem  to  be  the  resort  of  deer.  Our 
meridian  observations  by  theodolite  gave  the  latitude 
of  but  78°  52' :  the  magnetic  dip  was  84°  49'. 

It  was  plain  that  the  coast  of  Greenland  here  faced 
toward  the  north.  The  axis  of  both  these  bays  and 
the  general  direction  of  the  watercourses  pointed  to  the 
same  conclusion.     Our  longitude  was  78°  41'  W. 

Leaving  four  of  my  party  to  recruit  at  this  station,  1 
started  the  next  morning,  with  three  volunteers,  to  cross 
the  ice  to  the  northeastern  headland,  and  thus  save 
the  almost  impossible  circuit  by  the  shores  of  the  bay. 


100 


THACKERAY  HEADLAND. 


This  ice  was  new,  and  far  from  safe :  its  margin  along 
the  open  water  made  by  Minturn  River  required  both 
care  and  tact  in  passing  over  it.  We  left  the  heavy 
theodolite  behind  us ;  and,  indeed,  carried  nothing  ex- 
cept a  pocket-sextant,  my  Fraunhiifer,  a  walking-pole, 
and  three  days'  allowance  of  raw  pemmican. 

We   reached  the  headland   after   sixteen   miles  of 


THACKERAY   HEADLAND. 


walk,  and  found  the  ice-foot  in  good  condition,  evi- 
dently better  fitted  for  sledge-travel  than  it  was  to  the 
south.  This  point  I  named  Cape  William  Makepeace 
Thackeray.  Our  party  knew  it  as  Chimney  Rock.  It 
was  the  last  station  on  the  coast  of  Greenland,  de- 
termined by  intersecting  bearings  of  theodolite,  from 
known  positions  to  the  south.     About  eight  miles  be- 


CAPE      RUSSELL.  101 


yond  it  is  a  large  headland,  the  highest  visible  from 
the  late  iDosition  of  our  brig,  shutting  out  all  points 
farther  north.  It  is  indicated  on  my  chart  as  Cape 
Francis  Hawks.  We  found  the  table-lands  were  twelve 
hundred  feet  high  by  actual  measurement,  and  interior 
plateaus  were  seen  of  an  estimated  height  of  eighteen 
hundred. 

I  determined  to  seek  some  high  headland  beyond  the 
cape,  and  make  it  my  final  point  of  reconnoissance. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  sight,  when,  after  a  hard 
day's  walk,  I  looked  out  from  an  altitude  of  eleven 
hundred  feet  upon  an  expanse  extending  beyond  the 
eightieth  parallel  of  latitude.  Far  off  on  my  left  was 
the  western  shore  of  the  Sound,  losing  itself  in  dis- 
tance toward  the  north.  To  my  right,  a  rolling 
primary  country  led  on  to  a  low  dusky  wall-like  ridge, 
which  I  afterward  recognised  as  the  Great  Glacier 
of  Humboldt;  and  still  beyond  this,  reaching  north- 
ward from  the  north-northeast,  was  the  land  which 
now  bears  the  name  of  Washington :  its  most  pro- 
jecting headland,  Cape  Andrew  Jackson,  bore  four- 
teen degrees  by  sextant  from  the  farthest  hill.  Cape 
John  Barrow,  on  the  opposite  side.  The  great  area 
between  was  a  solid  sea  of  ice.  Close  along  its  shore, 
almost  looking  down  upon  it  from  the  crest  of  our 
lofty  station,  we  could  see  the  long  lines  of  hummocks 
dividing  the  floes  like  the  trenches  of  a  beleaguered 
city.'^^^^  Farther  out,  a  stream  of  icebergs,  increasing  in 
numbers  as  they  receded,  showed  an  almost  impene- 
trable  barrier;    since  I  could   not  doubt  that  among 


102  RETURN      TO      THE      BRIG. 


their  recesses  the  ice  was  so  crushed  as  to  be  impas- 
sable by  the  sledge. 

Nevertheless,  beyond  these  again,  the  ice  seemed 
less  obstructed.  Distance  is  very  deceptive  upon  the 
ice,  subduing  its  salient  features,  and  reducing  even 
lofty  bergs  to  the  appearance  of  a  smooth  and  attractive 
plain.  But,  aided  by  my  Fraunhofer  telescope,  I  could 
see  that  traversable  areas  were  still  attainable.  Slowly, 
and  almost  with  a  sigh,  I  laid  the  glass  down  and 
made  up  my  mind  for  a  mnter  search. 

I  had  seen  no  place  combining  so  many  of  the  requi- 
sites of  a  good  winter  harbor  as  the  bay  in  which  we 
left  the  Advance.  Near  its  southwestern  corner  the 
wide  streams  and  the  watercourses  on  the  shore  pro- 
mised the  earliest  chances  of  liberation  in  the  coming 
summer.  It  was  secure  against  the  moving  ice  :  lofty 
headlands  walled  it  in  beautifully  to  seaward,  enclosing 
an  anchorage  with  a  moderate  depth  of  water ;  yet  it 
was  open  to  the  meridian  sunlight,  and  guarded  from 
winds,  eddies,  and  drift.  The  space  enclosed  was  only 
occupied  by  a  few  rocky  islets  and  our  brig.  We  soon 
came  in  sight  of  her  on  our  return  march,  as  she  lay 
at  anchor  in  its  southern  sweep,  with  her  masts  cut- 
ting sharply  against  the  white  glacier;  and,  hurry- 
ing on  through  a  gale,  were  taken  on  board  without 
accident. 

My  comrades  gathered  anxiously  around  me,  wait- 
ing for  the  news.  I  told  them  in  few  words  of  the  re- 
sults of  our  journey,  and  why  I  had  determined  upon 
remaining,  and  gave  at  once  the  order  to  warp  in  be- 


t= 


THE  WINTER  HARBOR. 


103 


tween  the  islands.     We  found  seven-fathom  soundinsrs 

o 

and  a  perfect  shelter  from  the  outside  ice;  and  thus 
laid  our  little  brig  in  the  harbor,  which  we  were  fated 
never  to  leave  together, — a  long  resting-place  to  her 
indeed,  for  the  same  ice  is  around  her  still. 


WiNltR      HARBOiJ. 


'  Tlie  same  ice  is  around  her  still.' 


<*!*£?-,  ^J-     -'* 


.^  j^fH^^ 


RENSSELAER      HAS30R. 


CHAPTER  X. 

APPROACHING  WINTER STORING  PROVISIONS BUTLER  STORE- 
HOUSE  SUNDAY  AT  REST BUILDING  OBSERVATORY TRAIN- 
ING   THE    DOGS THE    LITTLE    ^VILLIE THE    ROAD THE    FAITH 

SLEDGING RECONNOISSANCE DEPOT    PARTY. 


The  winter  was  now  approaching  rapidly.  The 
thermometer  had  fallen  by  the  10th  of  September  to 
14°,  and  the  young  ice  had  cemented  the  floes  so  that 
we  could  walk  and  sledge  round  the  brig.  About  sixty 
paces  north  of  us  an  iceberg  had  been  caught,  and  was 


104 


STORING      PROVISIONS.  105 


frozen  in :  it  was  our  neighbor  while  we  remained  in 
Rensselaer  Harbor.  The  rocky  islets  around  us  were 
fringed  with  hummocks;  and,  as  the  tide  fell,  their  sides 
were  coated  with  opaque  crystals  of  bright  white.  The 
birds  had  gone.  The  sea-swallows,  which  abounded 
when  w^e  first  reached  here,  and  even  the  young  burgo- 
masters that  lingered  after  them,  had  all  taken  their 
departure  for  the  south.  Except  the  snow-birds,  these 
are  the  last  to  migrate  of  all  the  Arctic  birds. 

"September  10,  Saturday. — We  have  plenty  of  re- 
sponsible work  before  us.  The  long  'night  in  which 
no  man  can  work'  is  close  at  hand :  in  another  month 
we  shall  lose  the  sun.  Astronomically,  he  should  dis- 
appear on  the  24th  of  October  if  our  horizon  were  free ; 
but  it  is  obstructed  by  a  mountain  ridge,  and,  making 
all  allowance  for  refraction,  we  cannot  count  on  seeing 
him  after  the  10th. 

"First  and  foremost,  we  have  to  unstow  the  hold, 
and  deposit  its  contents  in  the  storehouse  on  Butler 
Island.  Brooks  and  a  party  are  now  briskly  engaged 
in  this  double  labor,  running  loaded  boats  along  a  canal 
that  has  to  be  recut  every  morning. 

"  Next  comes  the  catering  for  winter  diet.  We  have 
little  or  no  game  as  yet  in  Smith's  Sound ;  and,  though 
the  traces  of  deer  that  we  have  observed  may  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  animals  themselves,  I  cannot  calculate 
upon  them  as  a  resource.  I  am  without  the  her- 
metically-sealed meats  of  our  last  voyage  ;  and  the  use 
of  salt  meat  in  circumstances  like  ours  is  never  safe. 
A  fresh-water  pond,  which  fortunately  remains  open  at 


106  BUTLER      STOREHOUSE. 


Medary,  gives  me  a  chance  for  some  further  experi- 
ments in  freshening  this  portion  of  our  stock.  Steaks 
of  salt  junk,  artistically  cut,  are  strung  on  lines  like  a 
countrywoman's  dried  apples,  and  soaked  in  festoons 
under  the  ice.  The  salmon -trout  and  salt  codfish 
which  we  bought  at  Fiskernaes  are  placed  in  barrels, 
perforated  to  permit  a  constant  circulation  of  fresh 
water  through  them.  Our  pickled  cabbage  is  similarly 
treated,  after  a  little  jDotash  has  been  used  to  neutralize 
the  acid.  All  these  are  submitted  to  twelve  hours  of 
alternate  soaking  and  freezing,  the  crust  of  ice  being 
removed  from  them  before  each  immersion.  This 
is  the  steward's  province,  and  a  most  important  one 
it  is.  .   .  > 

"Every  one  else  is  well  employed ;  McGary  arranging 
and  Bonsall  making  the  inventory  of  our  stores; 
Ohlsen  and  Petersen  building  our  deck-house ;  while  I 
am  devising  the  plan  of  an  architectural  interior,  which 
is  to  combine,  of  course,  the  utmost  ventilation,  room, 
dryness,  warmth,  general  accommodation,  comfort, — in 
a  word,  all  the  appliances  of  health. 

"We  have  made  a  comfortable  dog-house  on  Butler 
Island ;  but  though  our  Esquimaux  canaille  are  within 
scent  of  our  cheeses  there,  one  of  which  they  ate  yes- 
terday for  lunch,  they  cannot  be  persuaded  to  sleep 
away  from  the  vessel.  They  prefer  the  bare  snow, 
where  they  can  couch  within  the  sound  of  our  voices, 
to  a  warm  kennel  upon  the  rocks.  Strange  that  this 
dog-distinguishing  trait  of  affection  for  man  should 
show  itself  in  an  animal  so  imperfectly  reclaimed  from 


SUNDAY     AT     REST. 


107 


a  savage  state  that  he  can  hardly  be  caught  when 
wanted ! 

"September  11,  Sunday. — To-day  came  to  us  the  first 
quiet  Sunday  of  harbor  life.  We  changed  our  log  re- 
gistration from  sea-time  to  the  familiar  home  series  that 
begins  at  midnight.     It  is  not  only  that  the  season  has 


BUTLER'S      ISLAND      STOREHOUSE. 


given  us  once  more  a  local  habitation ;  but  there  is 
something  in  the  return  of  varying  day  and  night 
that  makes  it  grateful  to  reinstate  this  domestic  obser- 
vance. The  long  staring  day,  which  has  clung  to  us 
for  more  than  two  months,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
stars,  has  begun  to  intermit  its  brightness.  Even  Al- 
debaran,  the  red  eye  of  the  Bull,  flared  out  into  fami- 
liar recollection  as  early  as  ten  o'clock;  and  the  hea- 


108  BUILDING     OBSERVATORY 


vens,  though  still  somewhat  reddened  by  the  gaudy 
tints  of  midnight,  gave  us  Capella  and  Arcturus,  and 
even  that  lesser  light  of  home  memories,  the  Polar 
Star.  Stretching  my  neck  to  look  uncomfortably  at 
this  indication  of  our  extreme  northernness,  it  was  hard 
to  realize  that  he  was  not  directly  overhead :  and  it 
made  me  sigh,  as  I  measured  the  few  degrees  of  dis- 
tance that  separated  our  zenith  from  the  Pole  over 
which  he  hung. 

"We  had  our  accustomed  morning  and  evening 
prayers ;  and  the  day  went  by,  full  of  sober  thought, 
and,  I  trust,  wise  resolve. 

"  September  12,  Monday.- — Still  going  on  with  Satur- 
day's operations,  amid  the  thousand  discomforts  of 
house-cleaning  and  moving  combined.  I  dodged  them 
for  an  hour  this  morning,  to  fix  with  Mr.  Sontag  upon 
a  site  for  our  observatory;  and  the  men  are  already 
at  work  hauling  the  stone  for  it  over  the  ice  on  sledges. 
It  is  to  occupy  a  rocky  islet,  about  a  hundred  yards 
off,  that  I  have  named  after  a  little  spot  that  I  long  to 
see  again,  '  Fern  Rock.'  This  is  to  be  for  me  the 
centre  of  familiar  localities.  As  the  classic  Mivins 
breakfasted  lightly  on  a  cigar  and  took  it  out  in  sleep, 
so  I  have  dined  on  salt  pork  and  made  my  dessert  of 
home  dreams. 

"September  13,  Tuesday. — Besides  preparing  our 
winter  quarters,  I  am  engaged  in  the  preliminary  ar- 
rangements for  my  provision-depots  along  the  Green- 
land coast.  Mr.  Kennedy  is,  I  believe,  the  only  one 
of  my  predecessors  who  has  used  October  and  Novem- 


TRAINING     THE     DOGS.  109 


ber  for  Arctic  field-work;  but  I  deem  it  important  to 
our  movements  during  the  winter  and  spring,  that  the 
depots  in  advance  should  be  made  before  the  darkness 
sets  in.  I  purpose  arranging  three  of  them  at  in- 
tervals,— pushing  them  as  far  forward  as  I  can, — to 
contain  in  all  some  twelve  hundred  pounds  of  pro- 
vision, of  which  eight  hundred  will  be  pemmican." 

My  plans  of  future  search  were  directly  dependent 
upon  the  success  of  these  operations  of  the  fall.  With 
a  chain  of  provision-depots  along  the  coast  of  Green- 
land, I  could  readily  extend  my  travel  by  dogs.  These 
noble  animals  formed  the  basis  of  my  future  plans  : 
the  only  drawback  to  their  efficiency  as  a  means  of 
travel  was  their  inability  to  carry  the  heavy  loads 
of  provender  essential  for  their  support.  A  badly-fed 
or  heavily-loaded  dog  is  useless  for  a  long  journey, 
but  with  relays  of  provisions  I  could  start  empty,  and 
fill  up  at  our  final  station. 

My  dogs  were  both  Esquimaux  and  Newfoundland- 
ers. Of  these  last  I  had  ten :  they  were  to  be  care- 
fully broken,  to  travel  by  voice  without  the  whip,  and 
were  expected  to  be  very  useful  for  heavy  draught,  as 
their  tractability  would  allow  the  driver  to  regulate 
their  pace.  I  was  already  training  them  in  a  light 
sledge,  to  drive,  unlike  the  Esquimaux,  two  abreast, 
with  a  regular  harness,  a  breast-collar  of  flat  leather, 
and  a  pair  of  traces.  Six  of  them  made  a  powerful 
travelling-team ;  and  four  could  carry  me  and  my  in- 
struments, for  short  journeys  around  the  brig,  with 
great  ease. 


110 


THE      LITTLE      WILLIE. 


The  sledge  I  used  for  them  was  built,  with  the  care 
of  cabinet-work,  of  American  hickory  thoroughly  sea- 
soned. The  curvature  of  the  runners  was  determined 
experimentally -.'^^^they  were  shod  with  annealed  steel, 
and  fastened  by  copper  rivets  which  could  be  renewed 
at  pleasure.  Except  this,  no  metal  entered  into  its 
construction.  All  its  parts  were  held  together  by  seal- 
skin lashings,  so  that  it  yielded  to  inequalities  of  sur- 
face and  to  sudden  shock.     The  three  paramount  con- 


LITTLE      WILLIE,      AND      NEWFOUNDLANDERS. 


siderations  of  lightness,  strength,  and  diminished  fric- 
tion, were  well  combined  in  it.  This  beautiful,  and, 
as  we  afterward  found,  efficient  and  enduring  sledge 
was  named  the  "Little  Willie."      -        •        ' 

The  Esquimaux  dogs  were  reserved  for  the  great 
tug  of  the  actual  journeys  of  search.  They  were  now 
in  the  semi-savage  condition  which  marks  their  close 
approach  to  the  wolf;  and  according  to  Mr.  Petersen, 
under  whose  care  they  were  placed,  were  totally  use- 
less for  journeys  over  such  ice  as  was  now  before  us. 
A  hard  experience  had  not  then  opened  my  eyes  to 


THE     ROAD.  Ill 


the  inestimable  value  of  these  dogs  :  I  had  yet  to  learn 
their  power  and  speed,  their  patient,  enduring  forti- 
tude, their  sagacity  in  tracking  these  icy  morasses, 
among  which  they  had  been  born  and  bred. 

I  determined  to  hold  back  my  more  distant  pro- 
vision parties  as  long  as  the  continued  daylight  would 
permit;  making  the  Newfoundland  dogs  establish  the 
depots  within  sixty  miles  of  the  brig.  My  previous 
journey  had  shown  me  that  the  ice-belt,  clogged  with 
the  foreign  matters  dislodged  from  the  cliffs,  would  not 
at  this  season  of  the  year  answer  for  operations  with 
the  sledge,  and  that  the  ice  of  the  great  pack  outside 
was  even  more  unfit,  on  account  of  its  want  of  con- 
tinuity. It  was  now  so  consolidated  by  advancing 
cold  as  to  have  stopped  its  drift  to  the  south ;  but  the 
large  fioes  or  fields  which  formed  it  were  imperfectly 
cemented  together,  and  would  break  into  hummocks 
under  the  action  of  winds  or  even  of  the  tides.  It  was 
made  still  more  impassable  by  the  numerous  bergs* 
which  kept  ploughing  with  irresistible  momentum 
through  the  ice-tables,  and  rearing  up  barricades  that 
defied  the  passage  of  a  sledge. 

It  was  desirable,  therefore,  that  our  depot  parties 
should  not  enter  upon  their  work  until  they  could 
avail  themselves  of  the  young  ice.  This  now  occu- 
pied a  belt,  about  one  hundred  yards  in  mean  breadth, 

*  The  general  drift  of  tlicse  great  masses  was  to  the  south, — a  plain 
indication  of  deep  sea-currents  in  that  direction,  and  a  convincing 
proof,  to  me,  of  a  discharge  from  some  northern  water. 


112  THE     FAITH. 


close  to  the  shore,  and,  but  for  the  fluctuations  of  the 
tides,  would  ah-eady  be  a  practicable  road.  For  the 
present,  however,  a  gale  of  wind  or  a  spring  tide 
might  easily  drive  the  outer  floes  upon  it,  and  thus 
destroy  its  integrity. 

The  party  appointed  to  establish  this  depot  was 
furnished  with  a  sledge,  the  admirable  model  of  which 
I  obtained  through  the  British  Admiralty.  The  only 
liberty  that  I  ventured  to  take  with  this  model — 
which  had  been  previously  tested  by  the  adventurous 
journej'S  of  McClintock  in  Lancaster  Sound — was  to 
lessen  the  height,  and  somewhat  increase  the  breadth 
of  the  runner;  both  of  which,  I  think,  were  improve- 
ments, giving  increased  strength,  and  preventing 
too  deep  a  descent  into  the  snow.  I  named  her  the 
"Faith."  Her  length  was  thirteen  feet,  and  breadth 
four.  She  could  readily  carry  fourteen  hundred  pounds 
of  mixed  stores. 

This  noble  old  sledge,  which  is  now  endeared  to  me 
by  every  pleasant  association,  bore  the  brunt  of  the 
heaviest  parties,  and  came  back,  after 
the  descent  of  the  coast,  compara- 
tively sound.  The  men  were  at- 
tached to  her  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  the  line  of  draught  or  traction 
as  near  as  possible  in  the  axis  of  the 
weight.  Each  man  had  his  0"wn 
shoulder-belt,  or  "rue-raddy,"  as  we 
used  to  call  it,  and  his  o^vn   track-  > 

line,  which    for   want   of  horse-hair      the  RuE-RAoor. 


SLEDGING. 


113 


was  made  of  Manilla  rope :  it  traversed  freely  by  a 
ring  on  a  loop  or  bridle,  that  extended  from  runner 
to  runner  in  front  of  the  sledge.  These  track-ropes 
varied  in  length,  so  as  to  keep  the  members  of  the 
party  from  interfering  with  each  other  by  walking 
abreast.  The  longest  was  three  fathoms,  eighteen 
feet,  in  length ;  the  shortest,  directly  fastened  to  the 
sledge  runner,  as  a  means  of  guiding  or  suddenly  ar- 
resting and  turning  the  vehicle. 

The  cargo  for  this  journey,  without  including  the 


SLEDGE      DRAWN      BY      NINE       MEN. 


provisions  of  the  party,  was  almost  exclusively  pem- 
mican.  Some  of  this  was  put  up  in  cjdinders  of 
tinned  iron  with  conical  terminations,  so  as  to  resist 
the  assaults  of  the  white  bear ;  but  the  larger  quan- 
tity was  in  strong  wooden  cases  or  kegs,  well  hooped 
with  iron,  holding  about  seventy  pounds  each.  Sur- 
mounting this  load  was  a  light  India-rubber  boat, 
made  quite  portable  by  a  frame  of  basket  willow, 
which  I  hoped  to  launch  on  reaching  open  water.  ^-^^ 
The  personal  equipment  of  the  men  was  a  buffalo- 
robe  for  the  party  to  lie  upon,  and  a  bo.g  of  Mackinaw 

Vol.  I.— 8 


114  RECONNOISSANCE. 


blanket  for  each  man  to  crawl  into  at  night.  India- 
rubber  cloth  was  to  be  the  protection  from  the  snow 
beneath.  The  tent  was  of  canvas,  made  after  the 
plan  of  our  English  predecessors.  We  afterward 
learned  to  modify  and  reduce  our  travelling  gear, 
and  found  that  in  direct  proportion  to  its  simplicity 
and  our  apparent  privation  of  articles  of  supposed 
necessity  were  our  actual  comfort  and  practical  effi- 
ciency. Step  by  step,  as  long  as  our  Arctic  service 
continued,  we  went  on  reducing  our  sledging  outfit, 
until  at  last  we  came  to  the  Esquimaux  ultimatum 
of  simplicity, — raw  meat  and  a  fur  bag. 

While  our  arrangements  for  the  winter  were  still  in 
progress,  I  sent  out  Mr.  Wilson  and  Dr.  Hayes,  accom- 
panied by  our  Esquimaux,  Hans,  to  learn  something  of 
the  interior  features  of  the  country,  and  the  promise  it 
afforded  of  resources  from  the  hunt.  They  returned  on 
the  16th  of  September,  after  a  hard  travel,  made  with 
excellent  judgment  and  abundant  zeal.  They  pene- 
trated into  the  interior  about  ninety  miles,  when  their 
progress  was  arrested  by  a  glacier,  four  hundred  feet 
high,  and  extending  to  the  north  and  west  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach.  This  magnificent  body  of  inte- 
rior ice  formed  on  its  summit  a  complete  plateau, — a 
mer  de  glace,  abutting  upon  a  broken  plain  of  syenite.^^^^ 
They  found  no  large  lakes.  They  saw  a  few  reindeer 
at  a  distance,  and  numerous  hares  and  rabbits,  but  no 
ptarmigan. 

"September  20,  Tuesday. — I  was  unwilling  to  delay 
my   depot    party   any    longer.      They   left    the    brig. 


DEPOT     PARTY.  115 


McGary,  and  Bonsall,  with  five  men,  at  half-past  one 
to-day.  We  gave  them  three  cheers,  and  I  accom- 
panied them  with  mj  dogs  as  a  farewell  escort  for 
some  miles. 

"  Our  crew  proper  is  now  reduced  to  three  men ;  but 
all  the  officers,  the  doctor  among  the  rest,  are  hard  at 
work  upon  the  observatory  and  its  arrangements." 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  OBSERVATORY  —  THERMOMETERS  —  THE  RATS  —  THE  BRIG  ON 
EIRE ANCIENT  SLEDGE-TRACKS ESQUIMAUX  HUTS  —  HYDRO- 
PHOBIA— SLEDGE-DRIVING MUSK  OX  TRACKS — ^A  SLEDGE  PARTY. 

The  island  on  which  we  placed  our  observatory  was 
some  fifty  paces  long  by  perhaps  forty  broad,  and  about 
thirty  feet  above  the  water-line.  Here  we  raised  four 
walls  of  granite  blocks,  cementing  them  together  with 
moss  and  water  and  the  never-failing  aid  of  frost.  On 
these  was  laid  a  substantial  wooden  roof,  perforated  at 
the  meridian  and  prime  vertical.  For  pedestals  we 
had  a  conglomerate  of  gravel  and  ice,  well  rammed 
down  while  liquid  in  our  iron-hooped  j)emmican-casks, 
and  as  free  from  all  vibration  as  the  rock  they  rested 
on.     Here  we  mounted  our  transit  and  theodolite. 

The  magnetic  observatory  adjoining,  had  rather  more 
of  the  affectation  of  comfort.  It  was  of  stone,  ten  feet 
square,  with  a  wooden  floor  as  well  as  roof,  a  co|)per 
fire-grate,  and  stands  of  the  same  Arctic  breccia  as 
those  in  its  neighbor.  No  iron  was  used  in  its  con- 
struction. Here  were  our  magnetometer  and  dip 
instruments. 

116  C 


THE     OBSERVATORY. 


117 


Our  tide-register  was  on  board  the  vessel,  a  simple 
pulley-gauge,  arranged  with  a  wheel  and  index,  and 
dependent  on  her  rise  and  fall  for  its  rotation/^^^   ■ 


BRIG      IN       HARBOR. 


Our  meteorological  observatory  was  upon  the  open 
ice-field,  one  hundred  and  forty  yards  from  the  ship. 
It  was  a  wooden  structure,  latticed  and  pierced  with 


118       -  THERMOMETERS. 


auger-holes  on  all  sides,  so  as  to  allow  the  air  to  pass 
freely,  and  firmly  luted  to  its  frozen  base.  To  guard 
against  the  fine  and  almost  impalpable  drift,  which  in- 
sinuates itself  everywhere,  and  which  would  interfere 
with  the  observation  of  minute  and  sudden  changes 
of  temperature,  I  placed  a  series  of  screens  at  right 
angles  to  each  other,  so  as  to  surround  the  inner 
chamber. 

The  thermometers  were  suspended  within  the  central 
chamber :  a  pane  of  glass  permitted  the  light  of  our 
lanterns  to  reach  them  from  a  distance,  and  a  lens  and 
eye-glass  were  so  fixed  as  to  allow  us  to  observe  the 
instruments  without  coming  inside  the  screens.  Their 
sensibility  was  such  that  when  standing  at  40°  and  50'^ 
below  zero,  the  mere  approach  of  the  observer  caused  a 
perceptible  rise  of  the  column.  One  of  them,  a  three- 
feet  spirit  standard  by  Taliabue,  graduated  to  70° 
minus,  was  of  sufficiently  extended  register  to  be  read 
by  rapid  inspection  to  tenths  of  a  degree.  The  in- 
fluence of  winds  I  did  not  wish  absolutely  to  neutralize ; 
but  I  endeavored  to  make  the  exposure  to  them  so 
uniform  as  to  give  a  relative  result  for  every  quarter 
of  the  compass.  We  were  well  supplied  with  thermo- 
meters of  all  varieties.*^^°^ 

I  had  devised  a  wind-gauge  to  be  observed  by  a  tell- 
tale below  deck;  but  we  found  that  the  condensing 
moisture  so  froze  around  it  as  to  clog  its  motion. 

"September  30,  Friday. — We  have  been  terribly 
annoyed  by  rats.  Some  days  ago,  we  made  a  brave 
effort  to  smoke  them  out  with  the  vilest  imaginable 


THE     RATS.  119 


compound  of  vapors, — brimstone,  burnt  leather,  and 
arsenic,  —  and  spent  a  cold  night  in  a  deck-bivouac 
to  give  the  experiment  fair  play.  But  they  survived 
the  fumigation.  We  now  determined  to  dose  them 
with  carbonic  acid  gas.  Dr.  Hayes  burnt  a  quantity 
of  charcoal;  and  we  shut  down  the  hatches,  after 
pasting  up  every  fissure  that  communicated  aft  and 
starting  three  stoves  on  the  skin  of  the  forepeak. 

"As  the  gas  was  generated  with  extreme  rapidity  in 
the  confined  area  below,  great  caution  had  to  be  exer- 
cised. Our  French  cook,  good  Pierre  Schubert, — who 
to  a  considerable  share  of  bull-headed  intrepidity  unites 
a  commendable  portion  of  professional  zeal, — stole  be- 
low, without  my  knowledge  or  consent,  to  season  a 
soup.  Morton  fortunately  saw  him  staggering  in  the 
dark ;  and,  reaching  him  with  great  difiiculty  as  he 
fell,  both  were  hauled  up  in  the  end, — Morton,  his 
strength  almost  gone,  the  cook  perfectly  insensible. 

"The  next  disaster  was  of  a  graver  sort.  I  record 
it  with  emotions  of  mingled  awe  and  thankfulness. 
We  have  narrowly  escaped  being  burnt  out  of  house 
and  home.  I  had  given  orders  that  the  fires,  lit  under 
my  own  eye,  should  be  regularly  inspected ;  but  I 
learned  that  Pierre's  misadventure  had  made  the 
watch  pretermit  for  a  time  opening  the  hatches.  As 
I  lowered  a  lantern,  which  was  extinguished  instantly, 
a  suspicious  odor  reached  me,  as  of  burning  wood.  I 
descended  at  once.  Reaching  the  deck  of  the  fore- 
castle, my  first  glance  toward  tlie  fires  showed  me  that 
all  was  safe  there ;  and,  though  the  quantity  of  smoke 


THE     BRIG      ON     FIRE. 


still  surprised  me,  I  was  disposed  to  attribute  it  to  the 
recent  kindling.  But  at  this  moment,  while  passing 
on  my  return  near  the  door  of  the  bulkhead,  which 
leads  to  the  carpenter's  room,  the  gas  began  to  affect 
me.  Mj  lantern  went  out  as  if  quenched  by  water ; 
and,  as  I  ran  by  the  bulkhead  door,  I  saw-  the  deck 
near  it  a  mass  of  glowing  fire  for  some  three  feet  in 
diameter.  I  could  not  tell  how  much  farther  it  ex- 
tended;, for  I  became  quite  insensible  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder,  and  would  have  sunk  had  not  Mr.  Brooks  seen 
my  condition  and  hauled  me  out.      _:    r-.-  > 

"When  I  came  to  myself,  which  happily  was  very 
soon,  I  confided  my  fearful  secret  to  the  four  men 
around  me.  Brooks,  Ohlsen,  Blake,  and  Stevenson. 
It  was  all-important  to  avoid  confusion :  we  shut  the 
doors  of  the  galley,  so  as  to  confine  the  rest  of  the  crew 
and  ofiicers  aft;  and  then  passed  up  water  from  the 
fire-hole  alongside.  It  was  done  very  noiselessly.  Ohl- 
sen and  myself  went  down  to  the  burning  deck; 
Brooks  handed  us  in  the  buckets;  and  in  less  than 
ten  minutes  we  were  in  safety.  It  was  interesting  to 
observe  the  effect  of  steam  upon  the  noxious  gas. 
Both  Ohlsen  and  myself  were  greatly  oppressed  until 
the  first  bucket  was  poured  on;  but  as  I  did  this, 
directly  over  the  burning  coal,  raising  clouds  of  steam, 
we  at  once  experienced  relief:  the  fine  aqueous  par- 
ticles seemed  to  absorb  the  carbonic  acid  instantly. 
We  found  the  fire  had  originated  in  the  remains  of  a 
barrel  of  charcoal,  which  had  been  left  in  the  car- 
penter's room,  ten  feet  from  the  stoves,  and  with  a 


ANCIENT     SLEDGE-TRACKS.  121 


bulkhead  separating  it  from  them.  How  it  had  been 
.ignited  it  was  impossible  to  know.  Our  safety  was 
due  to  the  dense  charge  of  carbonic  acid  gas  which 
surrounded  the  fire,  and  the  exclusion  of  atmospheric 
air.  When  the  hatches  were  opened,  the  flame  burst 
out  with  energy.  Our  fire-hole  was  invaluable ;  and  I 
rejoiced  that  in  the  midst  of  our  heavy  duties,  this 
essential  of  an  Arctic  winter  harbor  had  not  been  neg- 
lected. The  ice  around  the  brig  was  already  fourteen 
inches  thick.  •  '     - 

"October  1,  Saturday. — Upon  inspecting  the  scene 
of  yesterday's  operations,  we  found  twenty-eight  well- 
fed  rats  of  all  varieties  of  age.  The  cook,  though  un- 
able to  do  duty,  is  better :  I  can  hear  him  chanting 
his  Beranger  through  the  blankets  in  his  bunk,  happy 
over  his  holiday,  happy  to  be  happy  at  every  thing. 
I  had  a  larger  dose  of  carbonic  acid  even  than  he,  and 
am  suffering  considerably  with  palpitations  and  ver- 
tigo. If  the  sentimental  asphyxia  of  Parisian  char- 
coal resembles  in  its  advent  that  of  the  Arctic  zone, 
it  must  be,  I  think,  a  poor  way  of  dying. 

"October  3,  Monday. — On  shore  to  the  southeast, 
above  the  first  terrace,  Mr.  Petersen  found  unmistake- 
able  signs  of  a  sledge-passage.  The  tracks  were 
deeply  impressed,  but  certainly  more  than  one  season 
old.  This  adds  to  our  hope  that  the  natives,  whose 
ancient  traces  we  saw  on  the  point  south  of  Godsend 
Ledge,  may  return  this  winter. 

"October  5,  Wednesday. — I  walked  this  afternoon 
to  another  group  of  Esquimaux  huts,  about  three  miles 


122 


ESQUIMAUX     HUTS. 


from  the  brig.  They  are  four  in  number,  long  de- 
serted, but,  to  an  eye  un^Dractised  in  Arctic  antiquarian 
inductions,  in  as  good  preservation  as  a  last  year's 
tenement  at  home.  The  most  astonishing  feature  is 
the  presence  of  some  little  out-huts,  or,  as  I  first 
thought  them,  dog-kennels.  These  are  about  four 
feet    hy  three    in    ground-plan,   and    some    three    feet 


THE       ESQUIMAUX       HUTS. 


high ;  no  larger  than  the  pologs  of  the  Tchuschi. 
In  shape  they  resemble  a  rude  dome ;  and  the  stones 
of  which  they  are  composed  are  of  excessive  size,  and 
evidently  selected  for  smoothness.  They  were,  with- 
out exception,  of  waterwashed  limestone.  They  are 
heavily  sodded  with  turf,  and  a  narrow  slab  of  clay- 
slate  serves  as  a  door.  No  doubt  they  are  human 
habitations, — retiring-chambers,  into  which,  away  from 
the  crowded  families  of  the  hut,  one  or  even  two  Esqui- 
maux have  burrowed  for  sleep, — chilly  dormitories  in 
the  winter  of  this  high  latitude. ^"''^^ 

"A  circumstance  that  haj^pened  to-day  is  of  serious 


HYDROPHOBIA.  123 


concern  to  us.  Our  sluts  have  been  adding  to  our 
stock.  We  have  now  on  hand  four  reserved  puppies 
of  peculiar  promise ;  six  have  been  ignominiously 
dro'vned,  two  devoted  to  a  pair  of  mittens  for  Dr. 
Kane,  and  seven  eaten  by  their  mammas.  Yester- 
day, the  mother  of  one  batch,  a  pair  of  fine  white 
pups,  showed  peculiar  symptoms.  We  recalled  the 
fact  that  for  days  past  she  had  avoided  water,  or  had 
drunk  with  spasm  and  evident  aversion ;  but  hydro- 
phobia, which  is  unknown  north  of  70°,  never  occurred 
to  us.  The  animal  was  noticed  this  morning  walking 
up  and  down  the  deck  with  a  staggering  gait,  her 
head  depressed  and  her  mouth  frothing  and  tumid. 
Finally  she  snapped  at  Petersen,  and  fell  foaming  and 
biting  at  his  feet.  He  reluctantly  pronounced  it 
hydrophobia,  and  advised  me  to  shoot  her.  The  ad- 
vice was  well-timed :  I  had  hardly  cleared  the  deck 
before  she  snapped  at  Hans,  the  Esquimaux,  and 
recommenced  her  walking  trot.  It  was  quite  an 
anxious  moment  to  me ;  for  my  Newfoundlanders  were 
around  the  housing,  and  the  hatches  open.  We  shot 
her,  of  course. 

"  October  6,  Thursday. — The  hares  are  less  numerous 
than  they  were.  They  seek  the  coast  when  the  snows 
fall  in  the  interior,  and  the  late  southeast  wind  has 
probably  favored  their  going  back.  These  animals  are 
not  equal  in  size  either  to  the  European  hare  or  their 
brethren  of  the  North  American  continent.  The  latter, 
according  to  Seamann,  weigh  upon  an  average  fourteen 
pounds.      A  large   male,  the   largest   seen   by  us   in 


124  SLEDGE-DRIVING. 


Smith's  Sound,  weighed  but  nine;  and  our  average  so 
far  does  not  exceed  seven  and  a  half.  Tliey  measure 
generally  less  by  some  inches  in  length  than  those 
noticed  by  Dr.  Richardson.  Mr.  Petersen  is  quite  suc- 
cessful in  shooting  these  hares :  we  have  a  stock  of 
fourteen  now  on  hand.  -         .. 

"We  have  been  building  stone  traps  on  the  hills  for 
the  foxes,  whose  traces  we  see  there  in  abundance,  and 
have  determined  to  organize  a  regular  hunt  as  soon  as 
they  give  us  the  chance. 

"October  8,  Saturday. — I  have  been  practising  with 
my  dog-sledge  and  an  Esquimaux  team  till  my  arms 
ache.  To  drive  such  an  equipage  a  certain  proficiency 
with  the  whip  is  indispensable,  which,  like  all  pro- 
ficiency, must  be  worked  for.  In  fact,  the  weapon  has 
an  exercise  of  its  own,  quite  peculiar,  and  as  hard  to 
learn  as  single-stick  or  broadsword. 

"  The  whip  is  six  yards  long,  and  the  handle  but  six- 
teen inches, — a  short  lever,  of  course,  to  throw  out  such 
a  length  of  seal-hide.  Learn  to  do  it,  however,  with  a 
masterly  sweep,  or  else  make  up  your  mind  to  forego 
driving  sledge ;  for  the  dogs  are  guided  solely  by  the 
lash,  and  you  must  be  able  not  only  to  hit  any  particu- 
lar dog  out  of  a  team  of  twelve,  but  to  accompany  the 
feat  also  with  a  resounding  crack.  After  this,  you  find 
that  to  get  your  lash  back  involves  another  difficulty; 
for  it  is  apt  to  entangle  itself  among  the  dogs  and  lines, 
or  to  fasten  itself  cunningly  round  bits  of  ice,  so  as  to 
drag  you  head  over  heels  into  the  snow. 

"  The  secret  by  which  this  complicated  set  of  require- 


MUSK     OX     TRACKS.  125 


ments  is  fulfilled  consists  in  properly  describing  an  arc 
from  the  shoulder,  with  a  stiff  elbow,  giving  the  jerk  to 
the  whip-handle  from  the  hand  and  wrist  alone.  The 
lash  trails  behind  as  you  travel,  and  when  thrown  for- 
ward is  allowed  to  extend  itself  without  an  effort  to 
bring  it  back.  You  wait  patiently  after  giving  the  pro- 
jectile impulse  until  it  unwinds  its  slow  length,  reaches 
the  end  of  its  tether,  and  cracks  to  tell  you  that  it  is 
at  its  journey's  end.  Such  a  crack  on  the  ear  or  fore- 
foot of  an  unfortunate  dog  is  signalized  by  a  howl  quite 
unmistakeable  in  its  import.  '- 

"  The  mere  labor  of  using  this  whip  is  such  that  the 
Esquimaux  travel  in  couples,  one  sledge  after  the  other. " 
The  hinder  dogs  follow  mechanically,  and  thus  require 
no  whip ;   and  the  drivers  change  about  so  as  to  rest 
each  other. 

"  I  have  amused  myself,  if  not  my  dogs,  for  some  days 
past  with  this  formidable  accessory  of  Arctic  travel.  1 
have  not  quite  got  the  knack  of  it  yet,  though  I  might 
venture  a  trial  of  cracking  against  the  postillion  college 
of  Lonjumeau. 

"October  9,  Sunday. — Mr.  Petersen  shot  a  hare  yes- 
terday. They  are  very  scarce  now,  for  he  travelled 
some  five  hours  without  seeing  another.  He  makes  the 
important  report  of  musk  ox  tracks  on  the  recent  snow. 
Dr.  Richardson  says  that  these  are  scarcely  distinguish- 
able from  the  reindeer's  except  by  the  practised  eye : 
he  characterizes  them  as  larger,  but  not  wider.  The 
tracks  that  Petersen  saw  had  an  interesting  confirma- 
tion of  their  being  those  of  the  musk  ox,  for  they  were 


126 


A     SLEDGE      PARTY. 


accompanied  by  a  second  set  of  footprints,  evidently  be- 
longing to  a  young  one  of  the  same  species,  and  about 
as  large  as  a  middle-sized  reindeer's.  Both  impressions 
also  were  marked  as  if  by  hair  growing  from  the  pastern 
joint,  for  behind  the  hoof  was  a  line  brushed  in  the 
snow.^^^^  -        '  -•  ^  ,         "•■ 

"  To-day  Hans  brought  in  another  hare  he  had  shot. 
He  saw  seven  reindeer  in  a  large  valley  off  Bedevilled 
Reach,  and  wounded  one  of  them.  This  looks  pro- 
mising for  our  winter  commissariat. 

"October  10,  Monday. — Our  depot  party  has  been 
out  twenty  days,  and  it  is  time  they  were  back :  their 
provisions  must  have  run  very  low,  for  I  enjoined 
them  to  leave  every  pound  at  the  depot  they  could 
spare.  I  am  going  out  with  supplies  to  look  after  them. 
I  take  four  of  our  best  Newfoundlanders,  now  well 
broken,  in  our  lightest  sledge ;  and  Blake  will  accom- 
pany me  with  his  skates.  We  have  not  hands  enough 
to  equip  a  sledge  party,  and  the  ice  is  too  unsound  for 
us  to  attempt  to  ride  with  a  large  team.  The  thermo- 
meter is  still  four  degrees  above  zero." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

LEAPING     A     CHASM THE     ICE-BELT CAPE      WILLIAM     WOOD  — 

CAMP    ON    THE    FLOES RETURN     OF    DEPOT    PARTY  —  BONSALL's 

ADVENTURE  —  RESULTS  —  AN      ESCAPE  —  THE      THIRD      CACHE  — 
McGARY   ISLAND.  •  /  .  -       •'.'/' 

I  FOUND  little  or  no  trouble  in  crossing  the  ice  until 
we  passed  beyond  the  northeast  headland,  which  I  have 
named  Cape  William  Wood.  But,  on  emerging  into 
the  channel,  we  found  that  the  spring  tides  had  broken 
up  the  great  area  around  us,  and  that  the  passage  of 
the  sledge  was  interrupted  by  fissures,  which  were 
beginning  to  break  in  every  direction  through  the 
young  ice. 

My  first  efibrt  was  of  course  to  reach  the  land ;  but 
it  was  unfortunately  low  tide,  and  the  ice-belt  rose  up 
before  me  like  a  wall.  The  pack  Avas  becoming  more 
and  more  unsafe,  and  I  was  extremely  anxious  to  gain 
an  asylum  on  shore ;  for,  though  it  was  easy  to  find  a 
temporary  refuge  by  retreating  to  the  old  floes  which 
studded  the  more  recent  ice,  I  knew  that  in  doing  so 
we  should  risk  being  carried  down  by  the  drift. 

The  dogs  began  to  flag ;  but  we  had  to  press  them  : — 

127 


128  LEAPING     A     CHASM. 


we  were  only  two  men ;  and,  in  the  event  of  the  ani- 
mals failing  to  leap  any  of  the  rapidly-multij^lying 
fissures,  we  could  hardly  expect  to  extricate  our  laden 
sledge.  Three  times  in  less  than  three  hours  my  shaft 
or  hinder  dogs  went  in ;  and  John  and  myself,  who  had 
been  trotting  alongside  the  sledge  for  sixteen  miles, 
were  nearly  as  tired  as  they  were.  This  state  of 
things  could  not  last  j  and  I  therefore  made  for  the  old 
ice  to  seaward. 

We  were  nearing  it  rapidly,  when  the  dogs  failed  in 
leaping  a  chasm  that  was  somewhat  wider  than  the 
others,  and  the  whole  concern  came  down  in  the  water. 
I  cut  the  lines  instantly,  and,  with  the  aid  of  my  com- 
panion, hauled  the  poor  animals  out.  We  owed  the 
preservation  of  the  sledge  to  their  admirable  docility 
and  perseverance.  The  tin  cooking-apparatus  and  the 
air  confined  in  the  India-rubber  coverings  kept  it  afloat 
till  we  could  succeed  in  fastening  a  couple  of  seal-skin 
cords  to  the  cross-pieces  at  the  front  and  back.  By 
these  John  and  myself  were  able  to  give  it  an  uncertain 
support  from  the  two  edges  of  the  opening,  till  the  dogs, 
after  many  fruitless  struggles,  carried  it  forward  at  last 
upon  the  ice. 

Although  the  thermometer  was  below  zero,  and  in 
our  wet  state  we  ran  a  considerable  risk  of  freezing, 
the  urgency  of  our  position  left  no  room  for  thoughts 
of  cold.  We  started  at  a  run,  men  and  dogs,  for  the 
solid  ice ;  and  by  the  time  we  had  gained  it  we  were 
steaming  in  the  cold  atmosphere  like  a  couple  of 
Nootka  Sound  vapor-baths. 


TPIE      ICE-BELT. 


129 


We  rested  on  the  floe.  We  could  not  raise  our  tent, 
for  it  had  frozen  as  hard  as  a  shingle.  But  our  buffalo- 
robe  bags  gave  us  protection ;  and,  though  we  were  too 
wet  inside  to  be  absolutely  comfortable,  we  managed  to 


ICE-BELl      OF      OCTOBER. 


get  something  like  sleep  before  it  was  light  enough  for 
us  to  move  on  again. 

The  journey  was  continued  in  the  same  way ;  but 
we  found  to  our  great  gratification  that  the  cracks 
closed  with  the  change  of  the  tide,  and  at  high-water 
we  succeeded  in  gaining  the  ice-belt  under  the  cliffs. 
This  belt  had  changed  very  much  since  my  journey  in 

Vol.  I.— 9 


CAPE     WILLIAM     WOOD. 


September.  The  tides  and  frosts  together  had  coated 
it  with  ice  as  smooth  as  satin,  and  this  glossy  covering 
made  it  an  excellent  road.  The  cliffs  discharged  fewer 
fragments  in  our  path,  and  the  rocks  of  our  last  jour- 
ney's experience  were  now  fringed  with  icicles.  I  saw 
with  great  pleasure  that  this  ice-belt  would  serve  as  a 
highway  for  our  future  operations. 

The  nights  which  followed  were  not  so  bad  as  one 
would  suppose  from  the  saturated  condition  of  our 
equipment.  Evaporation  is  not  so  inappreciable  in  this 
Arctic  region  as  some  theorists  imagine.  By  alter- 
nately exposing  the  tent  and  furs  to  the  air,  and  beat- 
ing the  ice  out  of  them,  we  dried  them  enough  to  per- 
mit sleep.  The  dogs  slept  in  the  tent  with  us,  giving 
it  warmth  as  well  as  fragrance.  What  perfumes  of 
nature  are  lost  at  home  upon  our  ungrateful  senses ! 
How  we  relished  the  companionship  ! 

We  had  averaged  twenty  miles  a  day  since  leaving 
the  brig,  and  were  within  a  short  march  of  the  cape 
which  I  have  named  William  Wood,  when  a  broad 
chasm  brought  us  to  a  halt.  It  was  in  vain  that  we 
worked  out  to  seaward,  or  dived  into  the  shoreward 
recesses  of  the  bay :  the  ice  everywhere  presented  the 
same  impassable  fissures.  We  had  no  alternative  but 
to  retrace  our  steps  and  seek  among  the  bergs  some 
place  of  security.  We  found  a  camp  for  the  night  on 
the  old  floe-ices  to  the  westward,  gaining  them  some 
time  after  the  darkness  had  closed  in. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  about  two  hours  be- 
fore the  late  sunrise,  as  I  was   preparing  to  climb  a 


CAMP     ON      THE     FLOES. 


131 


berg  from  which  I  might  have  a  sight  of  the  road 
ahead,  I  perceived  far  off  upon  the  white  snow  a  dark 
object,  which  not  only  moved,  but  altered  its  shape 
strangely, — now  expanding  into  a  long  black  line, 
now  waving,  now  gathering  itself  up  into  a  compact 
mass.  It  was  the  returning  sledge  party.  They  had 
seen  our  black  tent  of  Kedar,  and  ferried  across  to 
seek  it. 

They  were  most  welcome ;  for  their  absence,  in  the 


CAMP     ON     THE      FLOES. 


fearfully  open  state  of  the  ice,  had  filled  me  with 
apprehensions.  We  could  not  distinguish  each  other 
as  we  drew  near  in  the  twilight;  and  my  first  good 
news  of  them  was  when  I  heard  that  they  were  sing- 
ing. On  they  came,  and  at  last  I  was  able  to  count 
their  voices,  one  by  one.  Thank  God,  seven!  Poor 
John  Blake  was  so  breathless  with  gratulation,  that 
I  could  not  get  him  to  blow  his  signal-horn.  "We 
gave  them,  instead,  the  good  old  Anglo-Scaxon  greet- 
ing, "  three  cheers !"  and  in  a  few  minutes  were  among 
tliem. 


132        RETURN  OF  DEPOT   PARTY. 


They  had  made  a  creditable  journey,  and  were,  on  the 
whole,  in  good  condition.  They  had  no  injuries  worth 
talking  about,  although  not  a  man  had  escaped  some 
touches  of  the  frost.  Bonsall  was  minus  a  big  toe-nail, 
and  plus  a  scar  upon  the  nose.  McGary  had  attempted, 
as  Tom  Hickey  told  us,  to  pluck  a  fox,  it  being  so  frozen 
as  to  defy  skinning  by  his  knife;  and  his  fingers  had 
been  tolerably  frost-bitten  in  the  operation.  "They're 
very  horny,  sir,  are  my  fingers,"  said  McGary,  who  was 
worn  down  to  a  mere  shadow  of  his  former  rotundity ; 
"very  horny,  and  they  water  up  like  bladders."  The 
rest  had  suffered  in  their  feet;  but,  like  good  fellows, 
postponed  limping  until  they  reached  the  ship. 

Within  the  last  three  days  they  had  marched  fifty- 
four  miles,  or  eighteen  a  day.  Their  sledge  being 
empty,  and  the  young  ice  north  of  Cape  Bancroft 
smooth  as  a  mirror,  they  had  travelled,  the  day  before 
we  met  them,  nearly  twenty-five  miles.  A  very  re- 
markable pace  for  men  who  had  been  twenty-eight 
days  in  the  field. 

My  supplies  of  hot  food,  coffee,  and  marled  beef 
soup,  which  I  had  brought  with  me,  were  very  oppor- 
tune. They  had  almost  exhausted  their  bread;  and, 
being  unwilling  to  encroach  on  the  depot  stores,  had 
gone  without  fuel  in  order  to  save  alcohol.  Leaving 
orders  to  place  my  own  sledge  stores  in  cache,  I  re- 
turned to  the  brig,  ahead  of  the  party,  with  my  dog- 
sledge,  carrying  Mr.  Bonsall  with  me. 

On  this  return  I  had  much  less  difficulty  with  the 


RONS  ALLS     ADVENTURE. 


133 


NEWFOUNDLAND      DOG      TEAM. 


ice-cracks ;  my  team  of  Newfoundlanders  leaping  them 
in  almost  every  instance,  and  the  impulse  of  our 
sledge  carrying  it  across.  On  one  occasion,  while  we 
were  making  these  flying  leaps,  poor  Bonsall  was 
tossed  out,  and  came  very  near  being  carried  under 
by  the  rapid  tide.  He  fortunately  caught  the  runner 
of  the  sledge  as  he  fell,  and  I  succeeded,  by  whipping 
up  the  dogs,  in  hauling  him  out.  He  was,  of  course, 
wet  to  the  skin ;  but  we  were  only  twenty  miles  from 
the  brig,  and  he  sustained  no  serious  injury  from  his 
immersion. 


134  GENERAL      RESULTS. 


I  return  to  my  journal. 

"The  spar-deck — or,  as  we  call  it  from  its  wooden 
covering,  the  'House' — is  steaming  with  the  buffalo- 
robes,  tents,  boots,  socks,  and  heterogeneous  costum- 
ings  of  our  returned  parties.  We  have  ample  work 
in  repairing  these  and  restoring  the  disturbed  order 
of  our  domestic  life.  The  men  feel  the  effects  of  their 
journey,  but  are  very  content  in  their  comfortable 
quarters.  A  pack  of  cards,  grog  at  dinner,  and  the 
promise  of  a  three  days'  holiday,  have  made  the  decks 
happy  with  idleness  and  laughter." 

I  give  the  general  results  of  the  party;  referring 
to  the  Appendix  for  the  detailed  account  of  Messrs. 
McGary  and  Bonsall. 

They  left  the  brig,  as  may  be  remembered,  on  the 
20th  of  September,  and  they  reached  Cape  Russell  on 
the  25th.  Near  this  S]3ot  I  had,  in  my  former  jour- 
ney of  reconnoissance,  established  a  cairn ;  and  here, 
as  by  previously-concerted  arrangement,  they  left  their 
first  cache  of  pemmican,  together  with  some  bread  and 
alcohol  for  fuel. 

On  the  28th,  after  crossing  a  large  bay,  they  met  a 
low  cape  about  thirty  miles  to  the  northeast  of  the 
first  depot.  Here  they  made  a  second  cache  of  a  hun- 
dred and  ten  pounds  of  beef  and  pemmican,  and  about 
thirty  of  a  mixture  of  pemmican  and  Indian  meal,  with 
a  bag  of  bread. 

The  day  being  too  foggy  for  sextant  observations  for 
position,  or  even  for  a  reliable  view  of  the  landmarks, 
they   built  a  substantial   cairn,   and   buried  the    pro- 


GENERAL     RESULTS.  135 


vision  at  a  distance  of  ten  paces  from  its  centre, 
bearing  bj  compass,  E.  by  N.  J  N.  The  point  on 
which  this  cache  stood  I  subsequently  named  after 
Mr.  Bonsall,  one  of  the  indefatigable  leaders  of  the 
party. 

I  will  give  the  geographical  outline  of  the  track  of 
this  party  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  narrative,  when 
I  have  spoken  of  the  after-travel  and  surveys  which 
confirmed  and  defined  it.  But  I  should  do  injustice 
both  to  their  exertions  and  to  the  results  of  them, 
were  I  to  omit  mention  of  the  difficulties  which  they 
encountered. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  their  outward  journey 
they  met  a  great  glacier,  which  I  shall  describe  here- 
after. It  checked  their  course  along  the  Greenland 
coast  abruptly;  but  they  still  endeavored  to  make 
their  way  outside  its  edge  to  seaward,  with  the  com- 
mendable object  of  seeking  a  more  northern  point  for 
the  provision  depot.  This  journey  was  along  the  base 
of  an  icy  wall,  which  constantly  threw  off"  its  dis- 
charging bergs,  breaking  up  the  ice  for  miles  around, 
and  compelling  the  party  to  ferry  themselves  and  their 
sledge  over  the  cracks  by  rafts  of  ice. 

One  of  these  incidents  I  give  nearly  in  the  language 
of  Mr.  Bonsall. 

They  had  camped,  on  the  night  of  5th  October, 
under  the  lee  of  some  large  icebergs,  and  within  hear- 
ing of  the  grand  artillery  of  the  glacier.  The  floe  on 
which  their  tent  was  pitched  was  of  recent  and  trans- 
parent ice ;   and  the  party,  too  tired  to  seek  a  safer 


136 


AN     ESCAPE. 


asylum,  had  turned  in  to  rest;  when,  with  a  crack 
like  the  snap  of  a  gigantic  whip,  the  ice  opened  directly 
beneath  them.  This  was,  as  nearly  as  they  could' 
estimate  the  time,  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  darkness  was  intense;  and  the  cold,  about 
10°  below  zero,  was  increased  by  a  wind  which  blew 
from  the  northeast  over  the  glacier.  They  gathered 
together  their  tent  and  sleeping  furs,  and  lashed  them, 
according  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  upon  the  sledge. 


CAMP      UNDER      G  L  A  C  I  E  R— 0  CT  0  B  E  R       FIFTH. 


Repeated  intonations  warned  them  that  the  ice  was 
breaking  up ;  a  swell,  evidently  produced  by  the  ava- 
lanches from  the  glacier,  caused  the  platform  on  which 
they  stood  to  rock  to  and  fro.. 

Mr.  McGary  derived  a  hope  from  the  stable  charac- 
ter of  the  bergs  near  them :  they  were  evidently  not 


THE      THIRD     CACHE.  13' 


adrift.  He  determined  to  select  a  flat  piece  of  ice^ 
place  the  sledge  upon  it,  and,  by  the  aid  of  tent-poles 
and  cooking-utensils,  paddle  to  the  old  and  firm  fields 
which  clung  to  the  bases  of  the  bergs.  The  party 
waited  in  anxious  expectation  until  the  returning  day- 
light permitted  this  attempt;  and,  after  a  most  ad- 
venturous passage,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  desired 
position. 

My  main  object  in  sending  them  out  was  the  de- 
posit of  provisions,  and  I  had  not  deemed  it  advisable 
to  complicate  their  duties  by  any  organization  for  a 
survey.  They  reached  their  highest  latitude  on  the 
6th  of  October;  and  this,  as  determined  by  dead 
reckoning,  was  in  latitude  79°o0',  and  longitude  76°20'. 
From  this  point  they  sighted  and  took  sextant  bear- 
ings of  land  to  the  north,'''  having  a  trend  or  inclina- 
tion west  by  north  and  east  by  south,  at  an  estimated 
distance  of  thirty  miles.  They  were  at  this  time  en- 
tangled in  the  icebergs;  and  it  was  from  the  lofty 
summit  of  one  of  these,  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  of 
surpassing  desolation,  that  they  made  their  observa- 
tions. 

They  began  the  third  or  final  cache,  which  was  the 
main  object  of  the  journey,  on  the  10th  of  October ; 
placing  it  on  a  low  island  at  tlie  base  of  the  large 

*  I  may  mention  that  the  results  of  their  observations  were  not  used 
in  the  construction  of  our  charts,  except  their  interesting  sextant  bear- 
ings. These  were  both  numerous  and  valuable,  but  not  sustained  at 
the  time  by  satisfactory  astronomical  observations  for  position. 


138  MCGARY     ISLAND. 


glacier  which  checked  their  further  march  along  the 
coast. 

Before  adopting  this  site,  they  had  perseveringly 
skirted  the  base  of  the  glacier,  in  a  fruitless  effort  to 
cross  it  to  the  north.  In  spite  of  distressing  cold,  and 
the  nearly  constant  winds  from  the  ice-clothed  shore, 
they  carried  out  all  my  instructions  for  securing  this 
imj^ortant  depot.  The  stores  were  carefully  buried  in 
a  natural  excavation  among  the  cliffs;  and  heavy 
rocks,  brought  with  great  labor,  were  piled  above 
them.  Smaller  stones  were  placed  over  these,  and 
incorporated  into  one  solid  mass  by  a  mixture  of  sand 
and  water.  The  power  of  the  bear  in  breaking 
up  a  provision  cache  is  extraordinary;  but  the  Es- 
quimaux to  the  south  had  assured  me  that  frozen 
sand  and  water,  which  would  wear  away  the  ani- 
mal's claws,  were  more  effective  against  him  than 
the  largest  rocks.  Still,  knowing  how  much  trouble 
the  officers  of  Commodore  Austin's  Expedition  ex- 
perienced from  the  destruction  of  their  caches,  I  had 
ordered  the  party  to  resort  to  a  combination  of  these 
expedients.  ^^^^ 

They  buried  here  six  hundred  and  seventy  pounds 
of  pemmican,  forty  of  Borden's  meat  biscuit,  and  some 
articles  of  general  diet ;  making  a  total  of  about  eight 
hundred  pounds.  They  indicated  the  site  by  a  large 
cairn,  bearing  E.  J  S.  from  the  cache,  and  at  the  dis- 
tance of  thirty  paces.  The  landmarks  of  the  cairn 
itself  were  sufficiently  evident,  but  were  afterwards 
ilxed  by  bearings,  for  additional  certainty. 


MCGARY     ISLAND. 


139 


The  island  which  was  so  judiciously  selected  as  the 
seat  of  this  cache  was  named  after  my  faithful  friend 
and  excellent  second  officer,  Mr.  James  McGary,  of 
New  London. 


MCGARY'S      CACHE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WALRUS-HOLES ADVANCE   OP   DARKNESS  —  DARKNESS  —  THE   COLD 

'^THE   ice-blink" FOX-CHASE — ESQUIMAUX   HUTS — OCCULTA- 

TION    OF   SATURN PORTRAIT   OF   OLD   GRIM. 

"October  28,  Friday. — The  moon  has  reached  her 
greatest  northern  declination  of  about  25°  35'.  She  is 
a  glorious  object :  sweeping  around  the  heavens,  at  the 
lowest  part  of  her  curve,  she  is  still  14°  above  the 
horizon.  For  eight  days  she  has  been  making  her  cir- 
cuit with  nearly  unvarying  brightness.  It  is  one  of 
those  sparkling  nights  that  bring  back  the  memory  of 
sleigh-bells  and  songs  and  glad  communings  of  hearts 
in  lands  that  are  far  away. 

"Our  fires  and  ventilation-fixtures  are  so  arranged 
that  we  are  able  to  keep  a  mean  temperature  below 
of  65°,  and  on  deck,  under  our  housing,  above  the 
freezing-point.  This  is  admirable  success;  for  the 
weather  outside  is  at  25°  below  zero,  and  there  is  quite 
a  little  breeze  blowing. 

"  The  last  remnant  of  walrus  did  not  leave  us  until 
the  second  week  of  last  month,  when  the  temjDerature 
had   sunk   below   zero.     Till   then   they   found   open 

HO 


t    W' 

I   ^ 

eel 


WALRUS-HOLES. 


141 


water  enough  to  sport  and  even  sleep  in,  between 
the  fields  of  drift,  as  they  opened  with  the  tide ;  but 
they  had  worked  numerous  breathing-holes  besides,  in 
the  solid  ice  nearer  shore/''  Many  of  these  were  in- 
side the  capes  of  Rensselaer  Harbor.  They  had  the 
same  circular,  cleanly-finished  margin  as  the  seals', 
but  they  were  in  much  thicker  ice,  and  the  radiating 


WALRUS     SPORTING. 


lines  of  fracture  round  them  much  more  marked. 
The  animal  evidently  used  his  own  buoyancy  as  a 
means  of  starting  the  ice. 

"  Around  these  holes  the  ice  was  much  discolored : 


*  The  walrus  often  sleeps  on  the  surface  of  the  water  while  his 
fellows  are  playing  around  him.  In  this  condition  I  frequently  sur- 
prised the  young  ones,  whose  mothers  were  asleep  by  their  side. 


142 


ADVANCE     OF     DARKNESS. 


numbers  of  broken  clam-shells  were  found  near  them, 
and,  in  one  instance,  some  gravel,  mingled  with  about 
half  a  peck  of  the  coarse  shingle  of  the  beach.  The 
use  of  the  stones  which  the  walrus  swallows  is  still 
an  interesting  question.  The  ussuk  or  bearded  seal 
has  the  same  habit. 

"November  7,  Monday. — The  darkness  is  coming  on 
with  insidious  steadiness,  and  its  advances  can  only  be 


WALRUS-HOLE. 


perceived  by  comparing  one  day  with  its  fellow  of  some 
time  back.  We  still  read  the  thermometer  at  noonday 
without  a  light,  and  the  black  masses  of  the  hills  are 
plain  for  about  five  hours  with  their  glaring  patches 
of  snow;  but  all  the  rest  is  darkness.  Lanterns  are 
always  on  the  spar-deck,  and  the  lard-lamps  never  ex- 
tinguished below.  The  stars  of  the  sixth  magnitude 
shine  out  at  noonday. 

"Except  upon  the  island  of  Spitzbergen,  which  has 


DARKNESS. 


143 


the  advantages  of  an  insular  climate  and  tempered  by 
ocean  currents,  no  Christians  have  wintered  in  so  high 
a  latitude  as  this.  They  are  Russian  sailors  who  make 
the  encounter  there,  men  inured  to  hardships  and  cold. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  sad  chronicles  of  the  early 


NOONDAY      IN      N  O  V  E  M  E3  E  R. 


Dutch,  who  perished  year  after  year,  without  leaving  a 
comrade  to  record  their  fate. 

"  Our  darkness  has  ninety  days  to  run  before  we  shall 
get  back  again  even  to  the  contested  twilight  of  to-day. 
Altogether,  our  winter  will  have  been  sunless  for  one 
hundred  and  forty  days. 


144  THE     COLD     INCREASING. 


"It  requires  neither  the  'Ice-foot'  with  its  grow- 
ing ramparts,  nor  the  rapid  encroachments  of  the 
night,  nor  the  record  of  our  thermometers,  to  por- 
tend for  us  a  winter  of  unusual  severity.  The 
mean  temperatures  of  October  and  September  are 
lower  than  those  of  Parry  for  the  same  months  at 
Melville  Island.  Thus  far  we  have  no  indications 
of  that  deferred  fall  cold  which  marks  the  insular 
climate. 

"November  9,  "Wednesday. — Wishing  to  get  the  alti- 
tude of  the  cliffs  on  the  southwest  cape  of  our  bay 
before  the  darkness  set  in  thoroughly,  I  started  in  time 
to  reach  them  with  my  Nemoundlanders  at  noonday. 
Although  it  was  but  a  short  journey,  the  rough  shore- 
ice  and  a  shght  wind  rendered  the  cold  severe.  I  had 
been  housed  for  a  week  with  my  wretched  rheumatism, 
and  felt  that  daily  exposure  was  necessary  to  enable 
me  to  bear  up  against  the  cold.  The  thermometer 
indicated  twenty-three  degrees  below  zero. 

"Fireside  astronomers  can  hardly  realize  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  observations  at  such  low  tempera- 
tures. The  mere  burning  of  the  hands  is  obviated  by 
covering  the  metal  mth  chamois-skin ;  but  the  breath, 
and  even  the  warmth  of  the  face  and  body,  cloud  the 
sextant-arc  and  glasses  with  a  fine  hoarfrost.  Though 
I  had  much  clear  weather,  we  barely  succeeded  by 
magnifiers  in  reading  the  verniers.  It  is,  moreover, 
an  unusual  feat  to  measure  a  base-line  in  the  snow  at 
fifty-five  degrees  below  freezing. 

"November  16,  "Wednesday. — The  great  difficulty  is 


-THE      ICE-BLlNK."  145 


to  keep  up  a  cheery  tone  among  the  men.  Poor  Hans 
has  been  sorely  homesick.  Three  days  ago  he  bundled 
up  his  clothes  and  took  his  rifle  to  bid  us  all  good-bye. 
It  turns  out  that  besides  his  mother  there  is  another 
one  of  the  softer  sex  at  Fiskernaes  that  the  boy's  heart 
is  dreaming  of.  He  looked  as  wretched  as  any  lover 
of  a  milder  clime.  I  hope  I  have  treated  his  nostalgia 
successfully,  by  giving  him  first  a  dose  of  salts,  and, 
secondly,  promotion.  He  has  now  all  the  dignity  of 
henchman.  He  harnesses  my  dogs,  builds  my  traps, 
and  walks  with  me  on  my  ice-tramps ;  and,  except 
hunting,  is  excused  from  all  other  duty.  He  is  really 
attached  to  mo,  and  as  happy  as  a  fat  man  ought 
to  be. 

"November  21,  Monday. — We  have  schemes  innu- 
merable to  cheat  the  monotonous  solitude  of  our  winter. 
We  are  getting  up  a  fancy  ball;  and  to-day  the  first 
number  of  our  Arctic  newspaper,  '  The  Ice-Blink,'  came 
out,  with  the  motto,  'In  tenebris  servare  fidem.'  The 
articles  are  by  authors  of  every  nautical  grade :  some 
of  the  best  from  the  forecastle.  I  transfer  a  few  of 
them  to  my  Appendix ;  but  the  following  sketch  is  a 
fac-simile  of  the  vignette  of  our  little  paper. 

"November  22,  Tuesday. — I  offered  a  prize  to-day  of 
a  Guernsey  shirt  to  the  man  who  held  out  longest  in  a 
'fox-chase'  round  the  decks.  The  rule  of  the  sport 
was,  that  'Fox'  was  to  run  a  given  circuit  between 
galley  and  capstan,  all  hands  foUo^ving  on  his  track ; 
every  four  minutes  a  halt  to  be  called  to  blow,  and  the 
fox  making  the  longest  run  to  take  the  prize ;   each  of 

Vol.  I.— 10 


146 


FOX-CH  A  SE. 


"in    tenebris    servare    fidem. 


the  crew  to  run  as  fox  in  turn.  William  Godfrey  sus- 
tained the  chase  for  fourteen  minutes,  and  wore  off  the 
shirt. 

"November  27,  Sunday. — -I  sent  out  a  volunteer 
party  some  days  ago  with  Mr.  Bonsall,  to  see  whether 
the  Esquimaux  have  returned  to  the  huts  we  saw 
empty  at  the  cape.  The  thermometer  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  40°  below  zero,  and  the  day  was  too 
dark  to  read  at  noon.  I  was  hardly  surprised  when 
they  returned  after  camping  one  night  upon  the  snow. 
Their  sledge  broke  down,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
leave  tents  and  every  thing  else  behind  them.  It 
must  have  been  very  cold,  for  a  bottle  of  Monongahela 
whiskey  of  good  stiff  proof  froze  under  Mr.  Bonsall's 
head. 


ESQUIMAUX     HUTS.  147 


"Morton  went  out  on  Friday  to  reclaim  the  things 
they  had  left;  and  to-day  at  1  p.m.  he  returned  suc- 
cessful. He  reached  the  wreck  of  the  former  party, 
making  nine  miles  in  three  hours, — pushed  on  six 
miles  farther  on  the  Ice-foot, — then  camped  for  the 
night;  and,  making  a  sturdy  march  the  next  day 
without  luggage,  reached  the  huts,  and  got  back  to  his 
camp  to  sleep.  This  journey  of  his  was,  we  then 
thought,  really  an  achievement, — sixty-two  miles  in 
three  marches,  with  a  mean  temperature  of  40°  below 
zero,  and  a  noonday  so  dark  that  you  could  hardly  see 
a  hummock  of  ice  fifty  paces  ahead. 

"Under  more  favoring  circumstances,  Bonsall,  Mor- 
ton, and  myself  made  eighty-four  miles  in  three  con- 
secutive marches.  I  go  for  the  system  of  forced 
marches  on  journeys  that  are  not  over  a  hundred  and 
fifty  miles.  A  practised  walker  unencumbered  by 
weight  does  twenty  miles  a  day  nearly  as  easily  as 
ten :  it  is  the  uncomfortable  sleeping  that  wears  a 
party  out. 

"Morton  found  no  natives;  but  he  saw  enough  to 
satisfy  me  that  the  huts  could  not  have  been  deserted 
long  before  we  came  to  this  region.  The  foxes  had 
been  at  work  upon  the  animal  remains  that  we  found 
there,  and  the  appearances  which  we  noted  of  recent 
habitation  had  in  a  great  degree  disappeared.  Where 
these  Esquimaux  have  travelled  to  is  matter  for  con- 
jecture. The  dilapidated  character  of  the  huts  we 
have  seen  farther  to  the  north  seems  to  imply  that 
they  cannot  have  gone  in  that  direction.     They  have 


148  OCCULTATION     OF     SATURN". 


more  probably  migrated  southward,  and,  as  the  spring 
opens,  may  return,  with  the  wah^us  and  seal,  to  their 
former  haunts.  We  shall  see  them,  I  think,  before  we 
leave  our  icy  moorings. 

"December  12,  Monday. — A  grand  incident  in  our 
great  monotony  of  life  1  We  had  an  occultation  of 
Saturn  at  2  a.m.,  and  got  a  most  satisfactory  observa- 
tion. The  emersion  was  obtained  with  greater  accu- 
racy than  would  have  been  expected  from  the  excessive 
atmospheric  undulation  of  these  low  temperatures.  My 
little  Fraunhofer  sustained  its  reputation  well.  We 
can  now  fix  our  position  without  a  cavil. 

"December  15,  Thursday. — We  have  lost  the  last 
vestige  of  our  mid-day  twilight.  We  cannot  see  print, 
and  liardly  ]3aper :  the  fingers  cannot  be  counted  a  foot 
from  the  eyes.  Noonday  and  midnight  are  alike,  and, 
except  a  vague  glimmer  on  the  sky  that  seems  to  de- 
fine the  hill  outlines  to  the  south,  we  have  nothing 
to  tell  us  that  this  Arctic  world  of  ours  has  a  sun. 
In  one  week  more  we  shall  reach  the  midnight  of 
the  year. 

"December  22,  Thursday. — There  is  an  excitement 
in  our  little  community  that  dispenses  with  reflections 
upon  the  solstitial  night.  'Old  Grim'  is  missing,  and 
has  been  for  more  than  a  day.  Since  the  lamented 
demise  of  Cerberus,  my  leading  Newfoundlander,  he 
has  been  patriarch  of  our  scanty  kennel. 

"Old  Grim  was  'a,  character'  such  as  perad venture 
may  at  some  time  be  found  among  beings  of  a  higher 
order  and  under  a  more  temperate  sky.     A  profound 


PORTRAIT     OF     OLD     GRIM.  149 


hypocrite  and  time-server,  he  so  wriggled  his  adulatory 
tail  as  to  secure  every  one's  good  graces  and  nobody's 
respect.  All  the  spare  morsels,  the  cast-ofF  delicacies 
of  the  mess,  passed  through  the  winnowing  jaws  of 
'Old  Grim,' — an  illustration  not  so  much  of  his  eclecti- 
cism as  his  universality  of  taste.  He  was  never  known 
to  refuse  any  thing  offered  or  approachable,  and  never 
known  to  be  satisfied,  however  prolonged  and  abundant 
the  bounty  or  the  spoil.  -         • 

"  Grim  was  an  ancient  dog  :  his  teeth  indicated  many 
winters,  and  his  limbs,  once  splendid  tractors  for  the 
sledge,  were  now  covered  with  warts  and  ringbones. 
Somehow  or  other,  when  the  dogs  were  harnessing  for 
a  journey,  'Old  Grim'  was  sure  not  to  be  found;  and 
upon  one  occasion,  when  he  was  detected  hiding  away 
in  a  cast-ofi'  barrel,  he  incontinently  became  lame. 
Strange  to  say,  he  has  been  lame  ever  since  except 
when  the  team  is  away  without  him. 

"Cold  disagrees  with  Grim;  but  by  a  system  of  pa- 
tient watchings  at  the  door  of  our  deck-house,  accom- 
panied by  a  discriminating  use  of  his  tail,  he  became 
at  last  the  one  privileged  intruder.  My  seal-skin  coat 
has  been  his  fiivorite  bed  for  weeks  together.  What- 
ever love  for  an  individual  Grim  expressed  by  his  tail, 
he  could  never  be  induced  to  follow  him  on  the  ice 
after  the  cold  darkness  of  the  winter  set  in;  yet  the 
dear  good  old  sinner  would  wriggle  after  you  to  the 
very  threshold  of  the  gangway,  and  bid  you  good-bye 
with  a  deprecatory  wag  of  the  tail  which  disarmed 
resentment. 


150  PORTRAIT     OF     OLD     GRIM. 


"His  appearance  was  quite  characteristic:  —  his 
muzzle  roofed  like  the  old-fashioned  gable  of  a  Dutch 
garret-window ;  his  forehead  indicating  the  most  meagre 
capacity  of  brains  that  could  consist  with  his  sanity  as 
a  dog;  his  eyes  small;  his  mouth  curtained  by  long 
black  dewlaps ;  and  his  hide  a  mangy  russet  studded 
with  chestnutnburrs  :  if  he  has  gone  indeed,  we  'ne'er 
shall  look  upon  his  like  again.'  So  much  for  old 
Grim ! 

"When  yesterday's  party  started  to  take  soundings, 
I  thought  the  exercise  would  benefit  Grim,  whose  time- 
serving sojourn  on  our  warm  deck  had  begun  to  render 
him  over-corpulent.  A  rope  was  fastened  round  him ; 
for  at  such  critical  periods  he  was  obstinate  and  even 
ferocious;  and,  thus  fastened  to  the  sledge,  he  com- 
menced his  reluctant  journey.  Reaching  a  stopping- 
place  after  a  while,  he  jerked  upon  his  hne,  parted  it  a 
foot  or  two  from  its  knot,  and,  dragging  the  remnant 
behind  him,  started  off  through  the  darkness  in  the 
direction  of  our  brig.     He  has  not  been  seen  since. 

"  Parties  are  out  with  lanterns  seeking  him ;  for  it  is 
feared  that  his  long  cord  may  have  caught  upon  some 
of  the  rude  pinnacles  of  ice  which  stud  our  floe,  and 
thus  made  him  a  helpless  prisoner.  The  thermometer 
is  at  44°. 6  below  zero,  and  old  Grim's  teeth  could  not 
gnaw  away  the  cord. 

"December  23,  Friday. — Our  anxieties  for  old  Grim 
might  have  interfered  with  almost  any  thing  else ;  but 
they  could  not  arrest  our  celebration  of  yesterday.  Dr. 
Hayes  made  us  a  well-studied  oration,  and  Morton  a 


PORTRAIT     OF     OLD     GRIM.  151 


capital  punch ;  add  to  these  a  dinner  of  marled  beef, — 
we  have  two  pieces  left,  for  the  sun's  return  and  the 
Fourth  of  July, —  and  a  bumper  of  champagne  all 
round ;  and  the  elements  of  our  frolic  are  all  regis- 
tered. 

"We  tracked  old  Grim  to-day  through  the  snow  to 
within  six  hundred  yards  of  the  brig,  and  thence  to 
that  mass  of  snow-packed  sterility  which  we  call  the 
shore,  ffis  not  rejoining  the  ship  is  a  mystery  quite 
in  keeping  with  his  character."  ,  . . 


PORTRAIT      OF      OLD       GRIM. 


>  CHAPTER  XIV.      ' 

MAGNETIC  OBSERVATORY  —  TEMPERATURES  —  RETURNING  LIGHT  — 
DARKNESS  AND  THE  DOGS  —  HYDROPHOBIA  —  ICE-CHANGES  —  THE 
ICE-FOOT THE    ICE-BELT THE    SUNLIGHT MARCH. 

My  journal  for  the  first  two  months  of  1854  is  so 
devoid  of  interest,  that  I  spare  the  reader  the  task  of 
following  me  through  it.  In  the  darkness  and  conse- 
quent inaction,  it  was  almost  in  vain  that  we  sought 
to  create  topics  of  thought,  and  by  a  forced  excitement 
to  ward  off  the  encroachments  of  disease.  Our  ob- 
servatory and  the  dogs  gave  us  our  only  regular  occu- 
pations. 

On  the  9  th  of  January  we  had  again  an  occulta- 
tion  of  Saturn.  The  emersion  occurred  during  a  short 
interval  of  clear  sky,  and  our  observation  of  it  was 
quite  satisfactory;  the  limit  of  the  moon's  disc  and 
that  of  the  planet  being  well  defined :  the  mist  pre- 
vented our  seeing  the  immersion.  We  had  a  re- 
currence of  the  same  phenomenon  on  the  5th  of 
February,  and  an  occultation  of  Mars  on  the  14th ; 
both  of  them  observed  under  favorable  circumstances, 
the  latter  especially. 

152 


MAGNETIC     OBSERVATORY. 


153 


Our  magnetic  observations  went  on ;  but  the  cold 
made  it  almost  impossible  to  adhere  to  them  with  regu- 
larity. Our  observatory  was,  in  fact,  an  ice-house  of 
the  coldest  imaginable  description.  The  absence  of 
snow  prevented  our  backing  the  walls  with  that  im- 
portant non-conductor.  Fires,  buffalo-robes,  and  an 
arras  of  investing  sail-cloth,  were  unavailing  to  bring 


THE      OBSERVATORY. 


up  the  mean  temperature  to  the  freezing-point  at  the 
level  of  the  magnetometer  ;*  and  it  was  quite  common 


*  We  had  a  good  unifilar,  that  had  been  loaned  to  us  by  Professor 
Bache,  of  the  Coast  Survey,  and  a  dip  instrument,  a  Barrow's  circle, 
obtained  from  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  through  the  kindness  of 
Col.  Sabine.  I  owe  much  to  Mr.  Sontag,  Dr.  Hayes,  and  Mr.  Bon- 
sall,  who  bore  the  brunt  of  the  term-day  observations ;  it  was  only 
toward  the  close  of  the  season  that  I  was  enabled  to  take  my  share 


154  TEMPERATURES. 


to  find  the  platform  on  which  the  observer  stood  full 
fifty  degrees  lower,  ( — 20°.)  Our  astronomical  ob- 
servations were  less  protracted,  but  the  apartment  in 
which  they  were  made  was  of  the  same  temperature 
with  the  outer  air.  The  cold  was,  of  course,  intense ; 
and  some  of  our  instruments,  the  dip-circle  particu- 
larly, became  difficult  to  manage  in  consequence  of 
the  unequal  contraction  of  the  brass  and  steel. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  our  thermometers  stood 
at  forty-nine  degrees  below  zero;  and  on  the  20th, 
the  range  of  those  at  the  observatory  was  at  — 64° 
to  — 67°.  The  temperature  on  the  floes  was  always 
somewhat  higher  than  at  the  island;  the  difference 
being  due,  as  I  suppose,  to  the  heat  conducted  from 
the  sea -water,  which  was  at  a  temperature  of 
+  29° ;  the  suspended  instruments  being  affected  by 
radiation.  >  •        •     " 

On  the  5th  of  February,  our  thermometers  began  to 
show  unexampled  temperature.  Thej^  ranged  from 
60°  to  75°  below  zero,  and  one  very  reliable  instru- 
ment stood  upon  the  taffrail  of  our  brig  at  — 65°. 
The  reduced  mean  of  our  best  spirit-standards  gave 
— 67°,  or  99°  below  the  freezing-point  of  water. 

At  these  temperatures  chloric  ether  became  solid, 
and  carefully-prepared  chloroform  exhibited  a  granu- 

of  them.  In  addition  to  these,  we  had  weekly  determinations  of  varia- 
tion of  declination,  extending  through  the  twenty-four  hours,  besides 
observations  of  intensity,  deflection,  inclination,  and  total  force,  with 
careful  notations  of  temperature. 


RETURNING     LIGHT.  155 


lar  23ellicle  on  its  surface.  Spirit  of  naphtha  froze  at 
— 54°,  and  oil  of  sassafras  at  — 49°.  The  oil  of  winter- 
green  was  in  a  flocculent  state  at  — 56°,  and  solid  at 
—63°  and  — 65°.=^(34) 

The  exhalations  from  the  surface  of  the  body  in- 
vested the  exposed  or  partially-clad  parts  with  a 
wreath  of  vapor.  The  air  had  a  perceptible  pungency 
upon  inspiration,  but  I  could  not  perceive  the  painful 
sensation  which  has  been  spoken  of  by  some  Siberian 
travellers.  Yv^lien  breathed  for  any  length  of  time,  it 
imparted  a  sensation  of  dryness  to  the  air-passages. 
I  noticed  that,  as  it  were  involuntarily,  we  all  breathed 
guardedly,  with  compressed  lips. 

The  first  traces  of  returning  light  were  observed 
at  noon  on  the  21st  of  January,  when  the  southern 
horizon  had  for  a  short  time  a  distinct  orange  tint. 
Though  the  sun  had  perhaps  given  us  a  band  of  illu- 
mination before,  it  was  not  distinguishable  from  the 
cold  Hght  of  the  planets.  We  had  been  nearing  the 
sunshine  for  thirty-two  days,  and  had  just  reached 
that  degree  of  mitigated  darkness  which  made  the 
extreme  midnight  of  Sir  Edward  Parry  in  latitude 
74°  47'.  Even  as  late  as  the  31st,  two  very  sensitive 
daguerreotype  plates,  treated  with  iodine  and  bromine, 
failed  to  indicate  any  solar  influence  when  exposed  to 
the  southern  horizon  at  noon ;  the  camera  being  used 
in-doors,  to  escape  the  effects  of  cold. 

*  I  repeated  my  observations  on  the  effects  of  these  low  tempera- 
tures with  great  care.  A  further  account  of  them  will  be  seen  in  the 
Appendix. 


156  DARKNESS     AND     THE      DOGS. 


The  influence  of  this  long,  intense  darkness  was 
most  depressing.  Even  our  dogs,  although  the  greater 
part  of  them  were  natives  of  the  Arctic  circle,  were 
unable  to  withstand  it.  Most  of  them  died  from  an 
anomalous  form  of  disease,  to  which,  I  am  satisfied, 
the  absence  of  light  contributed  as  much  as  the  ex- 
treme cold.  I  give  a  little  extract  from  my  journal 
of  January  20th. 

"  This  morning  at  five  o'clock — for  I  am  so  afflicted 
with  the  insomnium  of  this  eternal  night,  that  I  rise 
at  any  time  between  midnight  and  noon — I  went  upon 
deck.  It  was  absolutely  dark;  the  cold  not  permit- 
ting a  swinging  lamp.  There  was  not  a  glimmer  came 
to  me  through  the  ice-crusted  window-panes  of  the 
cabin.  While  I  was  feeling  my  way,  half  puzzled  as 
to  the  best  method  of  steering  clear  of  whatever  might 
be  before  me,  two  of  my  Newfoundland  dogs  put  their 
cold  noses  against  my  hand,  and  instantly  commenced 
the  most  exuberant  antics  of  satisfaction.  It  then 
occurred  to  me  how  very  dreary  and  forlorn  must 
these  poor  animals  be,  at  atmospheres  of  +10°  in-doors 
and  — 50°  without, — living  in  darkness,  howhng  at  an 
accidental  light,  as  if  it  reminded  them  of  the  moon, — 
and  with  nothing,  either  of  instinct  or  sensation,  to 
tell  them  of  the  passing  hours,  or  to  explain  the  long- 
lost  daylight.  They  shall  see  the  lanterns  more 
frequently." 

I  may  recur  to  the  influence  which  our  long  winter 
night  exerted  on  the  health  of  these  much-valued  ani- 
mals.    The  subject  has  some  interesting  bearings  -,  but 


THE      NEWFOUNDLAND     DOGS. 


157 


I   content   myself   for   the    present   with    transcribing 
another  jDassage  from  my  journal  of  a  few  days  later. 

"January  25,  Wednesday. — The  mouse-colored  dogs, 
the  leaders  of  my  Newfoundland  team,  have  for  the 
past  fortnight  been  nursed  like   babies.     No  one  can 


THE      DECKS      BY      LAMPLIGHT. 


tell  how  anxiously  I  watch  them.  They  are  kept 
below,  tended,  fed,  cleansed,  caressed,  and  doctored,  to 
the  infinite  discomfort  of  all  hands.  To-day  I  give  up 
the  last  hope  of  saving  them.  Their  disease  is  as 
clearly  mental  as  in  the  case  of  any  human  being. 
The  more  material  functions  of  the  poor  brutes  go  on 
without  interruption  :  they  eat  voraciously,  retain  their 


loS  HYDROPHOBIA. 


strength,  and  sleep  well.  But  all  the  indications  be- 
yond this  go  to  prove  that  the  original  epilepsy,  which 
was  the  first  manifestation  of  brain  disease  among 
them,  has  been  followed  by  a  true  lunacy.  They 
bark  frenziedly  at  nothing,  and  walk  in  straight  and 
curved  lines  with  anxious  and  unwearying  perseve- 
rance. 

"  They  fawn  on  you,  but  without  seeming  to  appre- 
ciate the  notice  you  give  them  in  return;  pushing 
their  heads  against  your  person,  or  oscillating  with  a 
strange  pantomime  of  fear.  Their  most  intelligent 
actions  seem  automatic :  sometimes  they  claw  you,  as 
if  trying  to  burrow  into  your  seal-skins;  sometimes 
they  remain  for  hours  in  moody  silence,  and  then  start 
off  howling  as  if  pursued,  and  run  up  and  down  for 
hours.  '^  •       " 

"So  it  was  with  poor  Flora,  our  'wise  dog.'  She 
was  seized  with  the  endemic  spasms,  and,  after  a  few 
wild  violent  paroxysms,  lapsed  into  a  lethargic  con- 
dition, eating  voraciously,  but  gaining  no  strength. 
This  passing  off,  the  same  crazy  wildness  took  posses- 
sion of  her,  and  she  died  of  brain  disease  {arachnoidal 
effusion)  in  about  six  weeks.  Generally,  they  perish 
with  symptoms  resembling  locked-jaw  in  less  than 
thirty-six  hours  after  the  first  attack." 

On  the  22d,  I  took  my  first  walk  on  the  great  floe, 
which  had  been  for  so  long  a  time  a  crude,  black  laby- 
rinth. I  give  the  appearance  of  things  in  the  words 
of  my  journal. 

"  The  floe  has  changed  wonderfully.     I  remember  it 


ICE-CUANGES.  159 


sixty-four  days  ago,  when  our  twilight  was  as  it  now 
is,  a  partially  snow-patched  plain,  chequered  with 
ridges  of  sharp  hummocks,  or  a  series  of  long  icy 
levels,  over  which  I  coursed  with  my  Newfoundlanders. 
All  this  has  gone.  A  lead-colored  expanse  stretches 
its  'rounding  gray'  in  every  direction,  and  the  old 
angular  hummocks  are  so  softened  down  as  to  blend 
in  rolhng  dunes  with  the  distant  obscurity.  The  snow 
upon  the  levels  shows  the  same  remarkable  evapora- 
tion. It  is  now  in  crisp  layers,  hardly  six  inches 
thick,  quite  undisturbed  by  drift.  I  could  hardly 
recognise  any  of  the  old  localities. 

"  We  can  trace  the  outline  of  the  shore  again,  and 
even  some  of  the  long  horizontal  bands  of  its  stratifica- 
tion. The  cliffs  of  Sylvia  Mountain,  which  open  to- 
ward the  east,  are,  if  any  thing,  more  covered  with 
snow  than  the  ridges  fronting  west  across  the  bay. 

"But  the  feature  which  had  changed  most  was  the 
ice-belt.  Wlien  I  saw  it  last,  it  was  an  investing  zone 
of  ice,  coping  the  margin  of  the  floe.  The  constant 
accumulation  by  overflow  of  tides  and  freezing  has 
turned  this  into  a  bristling  wall,  twenty  feet  high, 
(20  ft.  8  in.)  No  language  can  depict  the  chaos  at 
its  base.  It  has  been  rising  and  falling  throughout 
the  long  winter,  with  a  tidal  wave  of  thirteen  jierpen- 
dicular  feet.  The  fragments  have  been  tossed  into 
every  possible  confusion,  rearing  up  in  fantastic  equi- 
librium, surging  in  long  inclined  planes,  dipping  into 
dark  valleys,  and  piling  in  contorted  hills,  often  high 
above  the  ice-foot. 


160 


THE     ICE-FOOT. 


"  The  frozen  rubbish  has  raised  the  floe  itself,  for  a 
mdth  of  fifty  yards,  into  a  broken  level  of  crags.  To 
pass  over  this  to  our  rocky  island,  with  its  storehouse, 
is  a  work  of  ingenious  pilotage  and  clambering,  only 
practicable  at  favoring  periods  of  the  tide,  and  often 


THE      I  CE-FO  OT. 


impossible  for  many  days  together.  Fortunately  for 
our  observatory,  a  long  table  of  heavy  ice  has  been  so 
nicely  poised  on  the  crest  of  the  ice-foot,  that  it  swings 
like  a  seesaw  Avith  the  changing  water-level,  and  has 
formed  a  moving  beach  to  the  island,  on  which  the 
floes  could  not  pile  themselves.  Shoreward  between 
Medary  and  the  Herrace,'  the  shoal-water  has  reared 


THE      ICE-BELT. 


IGi 


up  the  ice-fields,  so  as  to  make  them  ahiiost  as  impass- 
able as  the  floes;  and  between  Fern  Rock  and  the 
gravestone,  where  I  used  to  pass  with  my  sledges, 
there  is  built  a  sort  of  garden-wall  of  crystal,  fully 
twenty  feet  high.  It  needs  no  iron  spikes  or  broken 
bottles  to  defend  its  crest  from  trespassers.  ; 


THE      BELT-ICES. 


"Mr.  Sontag  amuses  me  quite  as  much  as  he  does 
himself  with  his  daily  efforts  to  scale  it." 

My  next  extract  is  of  a  few  days  later. 

"February  1,  Wednesday. — The  ice-foot  is  the  most 
wonderful  and  unique  characteristic  of  our  high 
northern  position.     The  spring-tides  have  acted  on  it 

Vol.  I.— 11 


162      .  THE      SUNLIGHT. 


very  powerfully,  and  the  coming  day  enables  us  now 
to  observe  their  stupendous  effects.  This  ice-belt,  as 
I  have  sometimes  called  it,  is  now  twenty-four  feet  in 
solid  thickness  by  sixty-five  in  mean  width :  the  second 
or  appended  ice  is  thirty-eight  feet  wide ;  and  the  third 
thirty-four  feet.  All  three  are  ridges  of  immense  ice- 
tables,  serried  like  the  granite  blocks  of  a  rampart,  and 
investing  the  rocks  with  a  triple  circumvallation.  We 
know  them  as  the  beltr-ices. 

"The  separation  of  the  true  ice-foot  from  our  floe 
was  at  first  a  simple  interval,  which  by  the  recession 
and  advance  of  the  tides  gave  a  movement  of  about  six 
feet  to  our  brig.  Now,  however,  the  compressed  ice 
grinds  closely  against  the  ice-foot,  rising  into  inclined 
planes,  and  freezing  so  as  actually  to  push  our  floe 
farther  and  farther  from  the  shore.  The  brig  has 
already  moved  twenty-eight  feet,  Avithout  the  slightest 
perceptible  change  in  the  cradle  which  imbeds  her." 

I  close  my  notice  of  these  dreary  months  with  a 
single  extract  more.  It  is  of  the  date  of  February  the 
21st.  -  '       ■ 

"  We  have  had  the  sun,  for  some  days,  silvering  the 
ice  between  the  headlands  of  the  bay;  and  to  day,  to- 
ward noon,  I  started  out  to  be  the  first  of  my  party  to 
welcome  him  back.  It  was  the  longest  walk  and 
toughest  climb  that  I  have  had  since  our  imprisonment ; 
and  scurvy  and  general  debility  have  made  me  'short 
o'  wind.'  But  I  managed  to  attain  my  object.  I  saw 
him  once  more;  and  upon  a  projecting  crag  nestled  in 
the  sunshine.    It  was  like  bathing  in  perfumed  water." 


RETURN      0  F      S  T  li  I  N  G.  163 


The  month  of  March  brought  back  to  us  the  per- 
petual day.  The  sunshine  had  reached  our  deck  on  the 
hist  day  of  February :  we  needed  it  to  cheer  us.  We 
were  not  as  pale  as  my  experience  in  Lancaster  Sound 
had  foretold;  but  the  scurvy-spots  that  mottled  oui' 
faces  gave  sore  proof  of  the  trials  we  had  undergone. 
It  was  plain  that  we  were  all  of  us  unfit  for  arduous 
travel  on  foot  at  the  intense  temperatures  of  the  nomi- 
nal spring;  and  the  return  of  the  sun,  by  increasing  the 
evaporation  from  the  floes,  threatened  us  with  a  recur- 
rence of  still  severer  weather. 

But  I  felt  that  our  work  was  unfinished.  The  great 
object  of  the  expedition  challenged  us  to  a  more  north- 
ward exploration.  My  dogs,  that  I  had  counted  on  so 
largely,  the  nine  splendid  Newfoundlanders  and  thirty- 
five  Esquimaux  of  six  months  before,  had  perished ; 
there  were  only  six  survivors  of  the  whole  pack,  and 
one  of  these  was  unfit  for  draught.  Still,  they  formed 
my  principal  reliance,  and  I  busied  myself  from  the 
very  beginning  of  the  month  in  training  them  to  run 
together.  The  carpenter  was  set  to  work  upon  a 
small  sledge,  on  an  improved  model,  and  adapted  to 
the  reduced  force  of  our  team;  and,  as  we  had  ex- 
hausted our  stock  of  small  cord  to  lash  its  parts 
together,  Mr.  Brooks  rigged  up  a  miniature  rope-walk, 
and  was  preparing  a  new  supply  from  part  of  the 
material  of  our  deep-sea  lines.  The  operations  of 
shipboard,  however,  went  on  regularly ;  Hans  and 
occasionally  Petersen  going  out  on  the  hunt,  though 
rarely  returning  successful. 


164 


HOPES      AND      PROSPECTS. 


Meanwhile  we  talked  encouragingly  of  spring  hopes 
and  summer  prospects,  and  managed  sometimes  to  force 
an  occasion  for  mirth  out  of  the  very  discomforts  of  our 
unyielding  Avinter  life. 

This  may  explain  the  tone  of  my  diary. 


RETURNING      DAY. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

ARCTIC    OBSERVATIONS TRAVEL    TO    OBSERVATORY ITS    HAZARDS 

ARCTIC    LIFE THE    DAY THE    DIET THE    AMUSEMENTS THE 

LABORS THE     TEMPERATURE THE    ''EIS-FOD" THE     ICE-BELT — 

THE     ICE-BELT    ENCROACHING  —  EXPEDITION    PREPARING  —  GOOD- 
BYE—  A   SURPRISE  —  A    SECOND   GOOD-BYE. 

"Maecii  7,  Tuesday. — I  have  said  very  little  in  this 
business  journal  about  our  daily  Arctic  life.  I  have 
had  no  time  to  draw  pictures. 

"  But  we  have  some  trials  which  might  make  up  a 
day's  adventures.  Our  Arctic  observatory  is  cold  be- 
yond any  of  its  class,  Kesan,  Pulkowa,  Toronto,  or  even 
its  shifting  predecessors,  Bossetop  and  Melville  Island. 
Imagine  it  a  term-day,  a  magnetic  term-day. 

"  The  observer,  if  he  were  only  at  home,  would  be  the 
•'observed  of  all  observers.'  He  is  clad  in  a  pair  of 
seal-skin  pants,  a  dog-skin  cap,  a  reindeer  jumper,  and 
walrus  boots.  He  sits  upon  a  box  that  once  held  a 
transit  instrument.  A  stove,  glowing  witli  at  least  a 
bucketful  of  anthracite,  represents  pictorially  a  heating 
apparatus,  and  reduces  the  thermometer  as  near  as  may 

165 


166 


ARCTIC      OBSERVATIONS. 


be  to  ten  degrees  below  zero.  One  hand  holds  a  chro- 
nometer, and  is  left  bare  to  warm  it :  the  other  luxu- 
riates in  a  fox-skin  mitten.  The  right  hand  and  the 
left  take  it  'watch  and  watch  about.'  As  one  burn,-; 
with  cold,  the  chronometer  shifts  to  the  other,  and  the 
mitten  takes  its  place. 


THE      MAGNETIC      OBSERVATORY. 


•'  Perched  on  a  pedestal  of  frozen  gravel  is  a  magneto- 
meter; stretching  out  from  it,  a  telescope:  and,  bending 
down  to  this,  an  abject  human  eye.  Every  six  minutes, 
said  eye  takes  cognizance  of  a  finely-divided  arc,  and 
notes  the  result  in  a  cold  memorandum-book.  This 
process  continues  for  twenty-four  hours,  two  sets  of  eyes 


TRAVEL      TO     OBSERVATORY.  167 


taking  it  by  turns;  and,  when  twenty-four  hours  are 
over,  term-day  is  over  too. 

"  We  have  such  frolics  every  week.  I  have  just  been 
relieved  from  one,  and  after  a  few  hours  am  to  be  called 
out  of  bed  in  the  night  to  watch  and  dot  again.  I  have 
been  engaged  in  this  way  when  the  thermometer  gave 
20°  above  zero  at  the  instrument,  20°  below  at  two 
feet  above  the  floor,  and  43°  below  at  the  floor  itself: 
on  my  person,  facing  the  little  lobster-red  fury  of  a 
stove,  94°  above ;  on  my  person,  away  from  the  stove, 
10°  below  zero.  'A  grateful  country'  will  of  course 
appreciate  the  value  of  these  labors,  and,  as  it  cons 
over  hereafter  the  four  hundred  and  eighty  results 
wdiich  go  to  make  up  our  record  for  each  week,  will 
never  think  of  asking  '■Cid  hono  all  this?' 

"But  this  is  no  adventure.  The  adventure  is  the 
travel  to  and  fro.  We  have  night  now  only  half  the 
time ;  and  half  the  time  can  go  and  come  with  eyes  to 
help  us.     It  was  not  so  a  little  while  since. 

"Taking  an  ice-pole  in  one  hand,  and  a  dark-lan- 
tern in  the  other,  you  steer  through  the  blackness  for 
a  lump  of  greater  blackness,  the  Fern  Rock  knob. 
Stumbling  over  some  fifty  yards,  you  come  to  a  wall : 
your  black  knob  has  disappeared,  and  nothing  but  gray 
indefinable  ice  is  before  you.  Turn  to  the  right; 
plant  your  pole  against  that  inclined  plane  of  slippery 
smoothness,  and  jump  to  the  hummock  opposite :  it  is 
the  same  hummock  you  skinned  your  shins  upon  the 
last  night  you  were  here.  Now  wind  along,  half  ser- 
pentine,   half   zigzag,    and   you   cannot   mistake    that 


168  HAZARDOUS     TRAVEL. 


twenty-feet  wall  just  beyond,  creaking  and  groaning 
and  even  nodding  its  crest  with  a  grave  cold  wel- 
come:  it  is  the  'seam  of  the  second  ice.'  Tumble 
over  it  at  the  first  gajD,  and  you  are  upon  the  first 
ice :  tumble  over  that,  and  you  are  at  the  ice-foot ; 
and  there  is  nothing  else  now  between  you  and  the 
rocks,  and  nothing  after  them  between  you  and  the 
observatory. 

"  But  be  a  little  careful  as  you  come  near  this  ice-foot. 
It  is  munching  all  the  time  at  the  first  ice,  and  you 
have  to  pick  your  way  over  the  masticated  fragments. 
Don't  trust  yourself  to  the  half-balanced,  half-fixed, 
half-floating  ice-lumps,  unless  you  relish  a  bath  like 
Marshal  Suwarrow's, — it  might  be  more  pleasant  if 
you  were  sure  of  getting  out, — but  feel  your  way 
gingerly,  with  your  pole  held  crosswise,  not  disdaining 
lowly  attitudes, — hands  and  knees,  or  even  full  length. 
That  long  wedge-like  hole  just  before  you,  sending 
up  its  pufts  of  steam  into  the  cold  air,  is  the  'seam 
of  the  ice-foot:'  you  have  only  to  jump  it  and  you 
are  on  the  smooth  level  ice-foot  itself.  Scramble  up 
the  rocks  now,  get  on  your  wooden  shoes,  and  go  to 
work  observing  an  oscillating  needle  for  some  hours 
to  come.  ■  -  -  ,     ■  , 

"Astronomy,  as  it  draws  close  under  the  pole-star, 
cannot  lavish  all  its  powers  of  observation  on  things 
above.  It  was  the  mistake  of  Mr.  Sontag  some  months 
ago;  when  he  wandered  about  for  an  hour  on  his  way 
to  the  observatory,  and  was  afraid  after  finding  it  to 
try  and  wander  back.     I  myself  had  a  slide  down  an 


ARCTIC      LIFE.  169 


inclined  plane,  whose  well-graded  talus  gave  me  ample 
time  to  contemplate  the  contingencies  at  its  base; — a 
chasm  peradventure,  for  my  ice-pole  was  travelling 
ahead  of  me  and  stopped  short  with  a  clang;  or  it 
might  be  a  pointed  hummock — there  used  to  be  one 
just  below;  or  by  good  luck  it  was  only  a  water-pool, 
in  which  my  lantern  made  the  glitter.  I  exulted  to 
find  myself  in  a  cushion  of  snow. 

"March  9,  Thursday. — How  do  we  spend  the  day 
when  it  is  not  term-day,  or  rather  the  twenty-four 
hours?  for  it  is  either  all  day  here,  or  all  night,  or  a 
twilight  mixture  of  both.  How  do  we  spend  the 
twenty-four  hours  ?  -         " 

"At  six  in  the  morning,  McGary  is  called,  with  all 
hands  who  have  slept  in.  The  decks  are  cleaned,  the 
ice-hole  ojDened,  the  refreshing  beef-nets  examined,  the 
ice-tables  measured,  and  things  aboard  put  to  rights. 
At  half-past  seven,  all  hands  rise,  wash  on  deck,  open 
the  doors  for  ventilation,  and  come  below  for  breakfast. 
We  are  short  of  fuel,  and  therefore  cook  in  the  calkin. 
Our  breakfast,  for  all  fare  alike,  is  hard  tack,  pork, 
stewed  apples  frozen  like  molasses-candy,  tea  and  coffee, 
with  a  delicate  portion  of  raw  potato.  After  breakfast, 
the  smokers  take  their  pipe  till  nine :  then  all  hands 
turn  to,  idlers  to  idle  and  workers  to  work;  Ohlsen 
to  his  bench.  Brooks  to  his  'preparations'  in  canvas, 
McGary  to  play  tailor,  Whipple  to  make  shoes,  Bonsall 
to  tinker.  Baker  to  skin  birds, — and  the  rest  to  the 
'Office!'  Take  a  look  into  the  Arctic  Bureau!  One 
table,  one  salt-pork  lamp  with  rusty  chlorinated  flame, 


170 


THE      DAYS      BUSINESS. 


three  stools,  and  as  many  waxen-faced  men  with  their 
legs  drawn  up  under  them,  the  deck  at  zero  being  too 
cold  for  the  feet.  Each  has  his  department:  Kane  is 
writing,  sketching,  and  projecting  maps;  Hayes  copying 
logs  and  meteorologicals ;  Sontag  reducing  his  work  at 
Fern  Eock.     A  fourth,  as  one  of  the  working  members 


VISITING      THE       OBStRVATORY. 


of  the  hive,  has  long  been  defunct :  you  will  find  him 
in  bed,  or  studying  'Littell's  Living  Age.'  At  twelve, 
a  business  round  of  inspection,  and  orders  enough  to 
fill  up  the  day  with  work.  Next,  the  drill  of  the  Es- 
quimaux dogs, — my  own  peculiar  recreation, — a  dog- 
trot, specially  refreshing  to  legs  that  creak  with  every 
kick,  and   rheumatic   shoulders   that   chronicle  every 


UNPALATABLE      DIET.  171 


descent  of  the  whip.  And  so  we  get  on  to  dinner-time ; 
the  occasion  of  another  gathering,  which  misses  the  tea 
and  coffee  of  breakfast,  but  rejoices  in  pickled  cabbage 
and  dried  23eaches  instead. 

"At  dinner  as  at  breakfast  the  raw  potato  comes  in, 
our  hygienic  luxury.  Like  doctor-stuff  generally,  it  is 
not  as  appetizing  as  desirable.  Grating  it  down  nicely, 
leaving  out  the  ugly  red  spots  liberally,  and  adding  the 
utmost  oil  as  a  lubricant,  it  is  as  much  as  I  can  do  to 
persuade  the  mess  to  shut  their  eyes  and  bolt  it,  like 
Mrs.  Squeers's  molasses  and  brimstone  at  Dotheboys 
Hall.  Two  absolutely  refuse  to  taste  it.  I  tell  them 
of  the  Silesians  using  its  leaves  as  spinach,  of  the 
whalers  in  the  South  Seas  getting  drunk  on  the  mo- 
lasses which  had  preserved  the  large  potatoes  of  the 
Azores, — I  point  to  this  gum,  so  fungoid  and  angry  the 
day  before  yesterday,  and  so  flat  and  amiable  to-day, — 
all  by  a  potato  poultice :  my  eloquence  is  wasted :  they 
persevere  in  rejecting  the  admirable  compound. 

"  Sleep,  exercise,  amusement,  and  work  at  will,  carry 
on  the  day  till  our  six  o'clock  supper,  a  meal  something 
like  breakfast  and  something  like  dinner,  only  a  little 
more  scant:  and  the  officers  come  in  with  the  reports 
of  the  day.  Doctor  Hayes  shows  me  the  log,  I  sign  it; 
Son  tag  the  weather,  I  sign  the  weather;  Mr.  Bonsall 
the  tides  and  thermometers.  Thereupon  comes  in  mine 
ancient,  Brooks;  and  I  enter  in  his  journal  No.  3  all  the 
work  done  under  his  charge,  and  discuss  his  labors  for 
the  morrow. 

"McGary  comes  next,  with  the  cleaning-up  arrange- 


172 


THE     AMUSEMENTS. 


ment,  inside,  outside,  and  on  decks;  and  Mr.  Wilson 
follows  with  ice-measurements.  And  last  of  all  comes 
my  own  record  of  the  day  gone  by;  every  line,  as  T 
look  back  upon  its  pages,  giving  evidence  of  a  weak- 
ened body  and  harassed  mind.  -. 


WINTER      LIFE      ON       BOARD      SHIP. 


'•We  have  cards  sometimes,  and  chess  sometimes, — 
and  a  few  magazines,  Mr.  Littell's  thoughtful  present, 
to  cheer  away  the  evening. 

'*  March  11,  Saturday. — All  this  seems  tolerable  for 
commonplace  routine;  but  there  is  a  lack  of  comfort 


THE      LABORS.  i(6 

which  it  does  not  tell  of.  Our  fuel  is  limited  to  three 
bucketfuls  of  coal  a  day,  and  our  mean  temperature 
outside  is  40°  below  zero ;  46°  below  as  I  write.  Lon- 
don Brown  Stout,  and  somebody's  Old  Brown  Sherry, 
freeze  in  the  cabin  lockers;  and  the  carlines  overhead 
are  hung  with  tubs  of  chopped  ice,  to  make  water  for 
our  daily  drink.  Our  lamps  cannot  be  persuaded  to 
burn  salt  lard ;  our  oil  is  exhausted ;  and  we  work  by 
muddy  tapers  of  cork  and  cotton  floated  in  saucers. 
We  have  not  a  pound  of  fresh  meat,  and  only  a  barrel 
of  potatoes  left. 

"  Not  a  man  now,  except  Pierre  and  Morton,  is  ex- 
empt from  scurvy;  and,  as  I  look  around  upon  the  pale 
faces  and  haggard  looks  of  my  comrades,  I  feel  that  we 
are  fighting  the  battle  of  life  at  disadvantage,  and  that 
an  Arctic  night  and  an  Arctic  day  age  a  man  more 
rapidly  and  harshly  than  a  year  anywhere  else  in  all 
this  weary  world. 

"March  13,  Monday. — Since  January,  we  have  been 
working  at  the  sledges  and  other  preparations  for  travel. 
The  death  of  my  dogs,  the  rugged  obstacles  of  the  ice, 
and  the  intense  cold  have  obliged  me  to  reorganize  our 
whole  equipment.  We  have  had  to  discard  all  our 
India-rubber  fancy-work :  canvas  shoe-making,  fur-sock- 
ing, sewing,  carpentering,  are  all  going  on;  and  the 
cabin,  our  only  fire-warmed  apartment,  is  the  work- 
shop, kitchen,  parlor,  and  hall.  Pemmican  cases  are 
thawing  on  the  lockers ;  bufialo  robes  are  drying 
around  the  stove ;  camp  equipments  occupy  the  cor- 
ners ;    and   our  wo-begone   French    cook,  with  an  in- 


174  THE     TEMPEIIATURE. 

finitude  of  useless  saucepans,  insists  on  monopolizing 
the  stove. 

"March  15,  Wednesday. — The  mean  temperature  of 
the  last  five  days  has  been,  ■  . 

March  10 — 46°.03 

11 — 45°.60 

12 — 46°.64 

13 — 46°.56 

14... —46°. 65 

giving  an  average  of  — 46°  30',  with  a  variation  be- 
tween the  extremes  of  less  than  three-quarters  of  a 
degree. 

"  These  records  are  remarkable.  The  coldest  month 
of  the  Polar  year  has  heretofore  been  February;  but 
we  are  evidently  about  to  experience  for  March  a 
mean  temperature  not  only  the  lowest  of  our  own 
series,  but  lower  than  that  of  any  other  recorded 
observations. 

"This  anomalous  temj)erature  seems  to  disprove  the 
idea  of  a  diminished  cold  as  we  approach  the  Pole. 
It  will  extend  the  isotherm  of  the  solstitial  month 
higher  than  ever  before  projected. 

"The  mean  temperature  of  Parry  for  March  (in  lat. 
74°  30')  was  — 29°;  our  own  will  be  at  least  41° 
below  zero. 

"At  such  temperatures,  the  ice  or  snow  covering 
ofiers  a  great  resistance  to  the  sledge-runners.  I  have 
noticed  this  in  training  my  dogs.  The  dry  snow  in  its 
finely-divided   state  resembles  sand,  and  the  runners 


THE      "EIS-FOD."  175 


creak  as  they  pass  over  it.  Baron  Wrangell  notes  the 
same  fact  in  Siberia  at  — 40°. 

"  The  difficulties  of  draught,  however,  must  not  inter- 
fere with  my  parties.  I  am  only  waiting  until  the  sun, 
now  13°  high  at  noon,  brings  back  a  little  warmth  to 
the  men  in  sleeping.  The  mean  difference  between 
bright  clear  sunshine  and  shade  is  now  5°.  But  on 
the  10th,  at  noon,  the  shade  gave  — 42°  2',  and  the 
sun  — 28°;  a  difference  of  more  than  fourteen  degrees. 
This  must  make  an  impression  before  long. 

"March  17,  Friday. — It  is  nine  o'clock,  p.  m.,  and  the 
thermometer  outside  at  — 46°.  I  am  anxious  to  have 
this  dep6t  party  off;  but  I  must  wait  until  there  is  a 
promise  of  milder  weather.  It  must  come  soon.  The 
sun  is  almost  at  the  equator.  On  deck,  I  can  see  to 
the  northward  all  the  bright  glare  of  sunset,  streaming 
out  in  long  bands  of  orange  through  the  vapors  of  the 
ice-foot,  and  the  frost-smoke  exhaling  in  wreaths  like 
those  from  the  house-chimneys  a  man  sees  in  the 
valleys  as  he  comes  down  a  mountain-side." 

I  must  reserve  for  my  official  report  the  detailed 
story  of  this  ice-foot  and  its  changes. 

The  name  is  adopted  on  board  ship  from  the  Danish 
"Eis-fod,"  to  designate  a  zone  of  ice  which  extends 
along  the  shore  from  the  untried  north  beyond  us 
almost  to  the  Arctic  circle.  To  the  south  it  breaks 
up  during  the  summer  months,  and  disappears  as  high 
as  Upernavik  or  even  Cape  Alexander;  but  in  this 
our  high  northern  winter  harbor,  it  is  a  perennial 
growth,  clinging  to  the  bold  faces  of  the  cliffs,  follow- 


176 


THE      ICE-BELT. 


ing  the  sweeps  of  the  bays  and  the  indentations  of 
rivers. 

This  broad  platform,  although   changing  with   the 
seasons,  never  disappears.     It  served  as  our  highway 


MARY      LEIPER      RIVER  — THE      ICE-BELT. 


of  travel,  a  secure  and  level  sledge-road,  perched  high 
above  the  grinding  ice  of  the  sea,  and  adapting  itself 
to  the  tortuosities  of  the  land.  As  such  I  shall  call  it 
the  "ice-belt." 

I  was   familiar  with   the   Arctic   shore-ices   of  the 
Asiatic  and  American  explorers,  and  had  personally 


THE      ICE-BELT.  177 


studied  the  same  formations  in  Wellington  Channel, 
where,  previously  to  the  present  voyage,  they  might 
have  been  supposed  to  reach  their  greatest  development. 
But  this  wonderful  structure  has  here  assumed  a  form 
which  none  of  its  lesser  growths  to  the  south  had  ex- 
hibited. As  a  physical  feature,  it  may  be  regarded  as 
hardly  second,  either  in  importance  or  prominence,  to 
the  glacier;  and  as  an  agent  of  geological  change,  it  is 
in  the  highest  degree  interesting  and  instructive. 

Although  subject  to  occasional  disruption,  and  to 
loss  of  volume  from  evaporation  and  thaws,  it  measures 
the  severity  of  the  year  by  its  rates  of  increase.  Eis- 
ing  with  the  first  freezings  of  the  late  summer,  it  crusts 
the  sea-line  with  curious  fretwork  and  arabesques:  a 
little  later,  and  it  receives  the  rude  shock  of  the  drifts, 
and  the  collision  of  falling  rocks  from  the  cliffs  which 
margin  it :  before  the  early  winter  has  darkened,  it  is 
a  wall,  resisting  the  grinding  floes;  and  it  goes  on 
gathering  increase  and  strength  from  the  successive 
freezing  of  the  tides,  until  the  melted  snows  and  water- 
torrents  of  summer  for  a  time  check  its  progress. 
During  our  first  winter  at  Rensselaer  Harbor,  the  ice- 
belt  grew  to  three  times  the  size  which  it  had  upon 
our  arrival;  and,  by  the  middle  of  March,  the  islands 
and  adjacent  shores  were  hemmed  in  by  an  investing 
plane  of  nearly  thirty  feet  high  (27  feet)  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  wide. 

The  ice-foot  at  this  season  was  not,  however,  an  un- 
broken level.  It  had,  like  the  floes,  its  barricades,  ser- 
ried and  irregular;  which  it  was  a  work  of  great  labor 

Vol.  I.— 12 


178 


I  C  E  -  B  E  L  T      E  N  G  R  0  A  C  11  I  N  G. 


and  some  difficulty  to  traverse.  Our  stores  were  in  con- 
sequence nearly  inaccessible;  and,  as  the  ice-foot  still 
continued  to  extend  itself,  piling  ice-table  upon  ice-table, 
it  threatened  to  encroach  upon  our  anchorage  and  peril 
the   safety  of  the  vessel.     The   ridges   were   already 


HA 


/tE^        4 


f/^^  ^  *l^^^§„r'^'^'/'^ 


ICE-BELT  OF   EARLY  WINTER. 


within  twenty  feet  of  her,  and  her  stern  was  sensibly 
lifted  up  by  their  pressure.  We  had,  indeed,  been  puz- 
zled for  six  weeks  before,  by  remarking  that  the  floe 
we  were  imbedded  in  was  gradually  receding  from  the 
shore;  and  had  recalled  the  observation  of  the  Danes 
of  Upernavik,  that  their  nets  were  sometimes  forced 
away  strangely  from   the  land.     The  explanation  is,. 


EXPEDITION      PREPARING. 


179 


perhaps,  to  be  found  in  the  alternate  action  of  the  tides 
and  frost;  but  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  enter  upon 
the  discussion  here. 

"March  18,  Saturday. — To  day  our  spring-tides  gave 
to  the  massive  ice  which  sustains  our  little  vessel  a 
rise  and  fall  of  seventeen  feet.  The  crunching  and 
grinding,  the  dashing  of  the  water,  the  gurgling  of  the 
eddies,  and  the  toppling  over  of  the  nicely-poised  ice- 
tables,  were  unlike  the  more  brisk  dynamics  of  hum- 


ICE-BELF      AND     F1.OE. 


mock  action,  but  conveyed  a  more  striking  expression 
of  power  and  dimension. 

"The  thermometer  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
was  minus  49°;  too  cold  still,  I  fear,  for  our  sledgemen 
to  set  out.  But  we  packed  the  sledge  and  strapped  on 
the  boat,  and  determined  to  see  how  she  would  drag. 
Eight  men  attached  themselves  to  the  lines,  but  were 
scarcely  able  to  move  her.  This  may  be  due  in  part 
to  an  increase  of  friction  produced  by  the  excessive 
cold,  according  to  the  experience  of  the  Siberian  tra- 
vellers; but  I  have  no  doubt  it  is  principally  caused  by 


180 


THE     DEPARTURE. 


the  very  thin  runners  of  our  Esquimaux  sledge  cutting 
through  the  snow-crust. 

"The  excessive  refraction  this  evening,  which  en- 
tirely lifted  up  the  northern  coast  as  well  as  the  ice- 
bergs, seems  to  give  the  promise  of  milder  weather. 
In  the  hope  that  it  may  be  so,  I  have  fixed  on  to-morrow 
for  the  departure  of  the  sledge,  after  very  reluctantly 
dispensing  with  more  than  two  hundred  pounds  of  her 
cargo,  besides  the  boat.  The  party  think  they  can  get 
along  with  it  now.  ; 


EXCESSIVE      REFRACTION      OF      BERGS. 


"March  20,  Monday. — I  saw  the  depot  party  off 
yesterday.  They  gave  the  usual  three  cheers,  with 
three  for  myself.  I  gave  them  the  whole  of  my  bro- 
ther's great  wedding-cake  and  my  last  two  bottles  of 
Port,  and  they  pulled  the  sledge  they  were  harnessed 
to  famously.  But  I  was  not  satisfied.  I  could  see  it 
was  hard  work;  and,  besides,  they  were  without  the 
boat,  or  enough  extra  pemmican  to  make  their  deposit 
of  importance.  I  followed  them,  therefore,  and  found 
that  they  encamped  at  8  p.  m.  only  five  miles  from  the 
brio;. 


182  A     SECOND     GOOD-BYE. 


Mr.  Brooks  gives  his  third  snore,  off  with  you!'  off 
they  went,  and  'the  Faith'  after  them,  as  free  and 
nimble  as  a  volunteer.  The  trial  was  a  triumph.  We 
awakened  the  sleepers  with  three  cheers :  and,  giving 
them  a  second  good-bye,  returned  to  the  brig,  carrying 
the  dishonored  vehicle  along  with  us.  And  now,  bating 
mishaps  past  anticipation,  I  shall  have  a  depot  for  my 
long  trip. 

"  The  party  were  seen  by  McGary  from  aloft,  at 
noon  to-day,  moving  easily,  and  about  twelve  miles 
from  the  brig.  The  temperature  too  is  rising,  or 
rather  unmistakably  about  to  rise.  Our  lowest  was 
— 43°,  but  our  highest  reached  — 22° ;  this  extreme 
range,  with  the  excessive  refraction  and  a  gentle 
misty  air  from  about  the  S.E.,  makes  me  hope  that  we 
are  going  to  have  a  warm  spell.  The  party  is  well 
off.     Now  for  my  own  to  follow  them !" 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PREPARATION — TEMPERATURES — ADVENTURE — AN     ALARM — PARTY 

ON    TUE    FLOES  —  RESCUE    PARTY LOST    ON    THE   FLOES  —  PARTY 

FOUND RETURN FREEZING RETURNING   CAMP A   BIVOUAC 

EXHAUSTED ESCAPE CONSEQUENCES. 

"March  21,  Tuesday. — All  hands  at  work  house- 
cleaning.  Thermometer  — 48°.  Visited  the  fox-traps 
with  Hans  in  the  afternoon,  and  found  one  poor  ani- 
mal frozen  dead.  He  was  coiled  up,  with  his  nose 
buried  in  his  bushy  tail,  like  a  fancy  foot-muff  or  the 
jprie-dieu  of  a  royal  sinner.  A  hard  thing  about  his 
fate  was  that  he  had  succeeded  in  effecting  his  escape 
from  the  trap ;  but,  while  working  his  way  under- 
neath, had  been  frozen  fast  to  a  smooth  stone  by  the 
moisture  of  his  own  breath.  He  was  not  ftrobably 
aware  of  it  before  the  moment  when  he  sought  to 
avail  himself  of  his  hard-gained  libert}^  These  sad- 
dening thoughts  did  not  impair  my  appetite  at  supper, 
where  the  little  creature  looked  handsomer  than  ever. 

"  March  22,  Wednesday. — We  took  down  the  for- 
ward bulkhead  to-day,  and  moved  the  men  aft,  to  save 
fuel.     All    hands    are    still    at  work   clearing  up    the 

183 


184  PREPARATION. 


decks,  the  scrapers  sounding  overhead,  and  the  hickory 
brooms  crackHng  against  the  frozen  woodwork.  After- 
noon comes,  and  McGary  brings  from  the  traps  two 
foxes,  a  blue  and  a  white.  Afternoon  passes,  and  we 
skin  them.  Evening  passes,  and  we  eat  them.  Never 
were  foxes  more  welcome  visitors,  or  treated  more  like 
domestic  animals. 

"March  23,  Thursday. — The  accumulated  ice  upon 
our  housing  shows  what  the  condensed  and  frozen 
moisture  of  the  winter  has  been.  The  average  thick- 
ness of  this  curious  deposit  is  five  inches,  very  hard 
and  well  crystallized.  Six  cart-loads  have  been  already 
chopped  out,  and  about  four  more  remain. 

"  It  is  very  far  from  a  hardship  to  sleep  under  such 
an  ice-roof  as  this.  In  a  climate  where  the  intense 
cold  approximates  all  ice  to  granite,  its  thick  air-tight 
coating  contributes  to  our  warmth,  gives  a  beautiful 
and  cheerful  lustre  to  our  walls,  and  condenses  any 
vapors  which  our  cooks  allow  to  escape  the  funnels.  I 
only  remove  it  now  because  I  fear  the  effects  of  damp 
in  the  season  of  sunshine.  - 

"March  27,  Monday. — We  have  been  for  some  days 
in  all  the  flurry  of  preparation  for  our  exploration 
trip  :  buffalo-hides,  leather,  and  tailoring-utensils  every- 
where. Every  particle  of  fur  comes  in  play  for  mits 
and  muffs  and  wrappers.  Poor  Flora  is  turned  into  a 
pair  of  socks,  and  looks  almost  as  pretty  as  when  she 
was  heading  the  team. 

"  The  wind  to-day  made  it  intensely  cold.  In  riding 
but  four  miles  to  inspect  a  fox-trap,  the  movement 


TEMPERATURES.  185 


froze  my  cheeks  twice.  We  avoid  masks  with  great 
care,  reserving  them  for  the  severer  weather :  the  jaw 
w^hen  protected  recovers  very  soon  the  sensibility  which 
exposure  has  subdued. 

"  Our  party  is  now  out  in  its  ninth  day.  It  has  had 
some  trying  w^eather : 

On  the  loth ^2°.3 

20th — 35°.4 

21st — 19°.37 

22d —  7°.47 

23d —  9°.0^ 

24th — 18°.32 

25th : — 34°.80 

26th — 42°. 8 

27th — 34°.38 

of  mean  daily  temperature;  making  an  average  of 
27''.  13  below  zero. 

"March  29,  Wednesday. — I  have  been  out  with  my 
dog-sledge,  inspecting  the  ice  to-day  from  the  north- 
western headland.  There  seems  a  marked  difference 
between  this  sound  and  other  estuaries,  in  the  number 
of  ice-bergs.  Unlike  Prince  Regent's,  or  Wellington, 
or  Lancaster  Sounds,  the  shores  here  are  lined  with 
glaciers,  and  the  water  is  everywhere  choked  and 
harassed  by  their  discharges.  This  was  never  so  appa- 
rent to  me  as  this  afternoon.  The  low  sun  lit  up  line 
after  line  of  lofty  bergs,  and  the  excessive  refraction 
elevated  them  so  much,  that  I  thought  I  could  see  a 
chain  of  continuous  ice  running  on  toward  the  north 
until  it  was  lost  in  illimitable  distance. 


186 


AN      ADVENTURE. 


"  March  31,  Friday. — I  was  within  an  ace  to-day  of 
losing  my  dogs,  every  one  of  them.  When  I  reached 
the  ice-foot,  they  balked  : — who  would  not  ? — the  tide 
was  low,  the  ice  rampant,  and  a  jump  of  four  feet 
necessary  to  reach  the  crest.  The  howling  of  the 
wind  and  the  whirl  of  the   snow-drift   confused   the 


NORTHWESTERN       HEADLAND. 


poor  creatures ;  but  it  was  valuable  training  for  them, 
and  I  strove  to  force  them  over.  Of  course  I  was  on 
foot,  and  they  had  a  light  load  behind  them.  'Now, 
Stumpy !  Now,  Whitey !'  '  Good  dogs !'  '  Tu-lee-ee-ee  ! 
Tuh !'  They  went  at  it  like  good  stanch  brutes,  and 
the  next  minute  the  whole  team  was  rolling  in  a  lump, 
some  sixteen  feet  below  me,  in  the  chasm  of  the  ice- 
foot.    The  drift  was  such  that  at  first  I  could  not  see 


SUDDEN      ALARM.  187 


them.  The  roaring  of  the  tide  and  the  subdued  wail 
of  the  dogs  made  me  fear  for  the  worst.  I  had  to  walk 
through  the  broken  ice,  which  rose  in  toppling  spires 
over  my  head,  for  nearly  fifty  yards,  before  I  found  an 
opening  to  the  ice-face,  by  which  I  was  able  to  climb 
down  to  them.  A  few  cuts  of  a  sheath-knife  released 
them,  although  the  caresses  of  the  dear  brutes  had  like 
to  have  been  fatal  to  me,  for  I  had  to  straddle  with 
one  foot  on  the  fast  ice  and  the  other  on  loose  piled 
rubbish.  But  I  got  a  line  attached  to  the  cross-pieces 
of  the  sledge-runners,  flung  it  up  on  the  ice-foot,  and 
then  piloted  my  dogs  out  of  their  slough.  In  about 
ten  minutes,  we  were  sweating  along  at  eight  miles  an 
hour," 

Every  thing  looked  promising,  and  we  were  only 
waiting  for  intelligence  that  our  advance  party  had  de- 
posited its  provisions  in  safety  to  begin  our  transit  of 
the  bay.  Except  a  few  sledge-lashings  and  some  trifling 
accoutrements  to  finish,  all  was  ready. 

We  were  at  work  cheerfully,  sewing  away  at  the 
skins  of  some  moccasins  by  the  blaze  of  our  lamps, 
when,  toward  midnight,  we  heard  the  noise  of  steps 
above,  and  the  next  minute  Sontag,  Ohlsen,  and  Peter- 
sen came  down  into  the  cabin.  Their  manner  startled 
me  even  more  than  their  unexpected  appearance  on 
board.  They  were  swollen  and  haggard,  and  hardly 
able  to  speak. 

Their  story  was  a  fearful  one.  They  had  left  their 
companions  in  the  ice,  risking  their  own  lives  to  bring 


188  PARTY     ON      THE      FLOES. 


US  the  news :  Brooks,  Baker,  Wilson,  and  Pierre  were 
all  lying  frozen  and  disabled.  Where  ?  They  could 
not  tell :  somewhere  in  among  the  hummocks  to  the 
north  and  east;  it  was  drifting  heavily  round  them 
when  they  parted.  Irish  Tom  had  stayed  by  to  feed 
and  care  for  the  others;  but  the  chances  were  sorely 
against  them.  It  was  in  vain  to  question  them  fur- 
ther. They  had  evidently  travelled  a  great  distance, 
for  they  were  sinking  with  fatigue  and  hunger,  and 
could  hardly  be  rallied  enough  to  tell  us  the  direction 
in  which  they  had  come. 


THE       RESCUE       PARTY. 


My  first  impulse  was  to  move  on  the  instant  with  an 
unencumbered  party :  a  rescue,  to  be  effective  or  even 
hopeful,  could  not  be  too  prompt.  What  pressed  on 
my  mind  most  was,  where  the  sufferers  were  to  be 
looked  for  among  the  drifts.  Ohlsen  seemed  to  have 
his  faculties  rather  more  at  command  than  his  asso- 
ciates, and  I  thought  that  he  might  assist  us  as  a 
guide ;  but  he  was  sinking  with  exhaustion,  and  if  he 
went  with  us  we  must  carry  him. 


RESCUE      PARTY.  189 


There  was  not  a  moment  to  be  lost.  While  some 
were  still  busy  with  the  new-comers  and  getting  ready 
a  hasty  meal,  others  were  rigging  out  the  "  Little 
Willie"  with  a  bujBfalo-cover,  a  small  tent,  and  a  pack- 
age of  pemmicanj  and,  as  soon  as  we  could  hurry 
through  our  arrangements,  Ohlsen  was  strapped  on  in 
a  fur  bag,  his  legs  wrapped  in  dog-skins  and  eider- 
down, and  we  were  off  upon  the  ice.  Our  party  con- 
sisted of  nine  men  and  myself.  We  carried  only  the 
clothes  on  our  backs.  The  thermometer  stood  at 
— 46°,  seventy-eight  degrees  below  the  freezing-point. 

A  well-known  peculiar  tower  of  ice,  called  by  the 
men  the  "Pinnacly  Berg,"  served  as  our  first  land- 
mark :  other  icebergs  of  colossal  size,  which  stretched 
in  long  beaded  lines  across  the  bay,  helped  to  guide  us 
afterward;  and  it  was  not  until  Ave  had  travelled  for 
sixteen  hours  that  we  began  to  lose  our  way. 

We  knew  that  our  lost  companions  must  be  some- 
where in  the  area  before  us,  within  a  radius  of  forty 
miles.  Mr.  Ohlsen,  who  had  been  for  fifty  hours  with- 
out rest,  fell  asleep  as  soon  as  we  began  to  move,  and 
awoke  now  with  unequivocal  signs  of  mental  disturb- 
ance. It  became  evident  that  he  had  lost  the  bearing 
of  the  icebergs,  which  in  form  and  color  endlessly  re- 
peated themselves ;  and  the  uniformity  of  the  vast  field 
of  snow  utterly  forbade  the  hope  of  local  landmarks. 

Pushing  ahead  of  the  party,  and  clambering  over 
some  rugged  ice-piles,  I  came  to  a  long  level  floe,  which 
I  thought  might  probably  have  attracted  the  eyes  of 
weary  men  in  circumstances  like  our  OAvn.     It  Avas  a 


190 


RESCUE   PARTY. 


light  conjecture ;  but  it  was  enough  to  turn  the  scale, 
for  there  was  no  other  to  balance  it.  I  gave  orders  to 
abandon  the  sledge,  and  disperse  in  search  of  foot- 
-marks. We  raised  our  tent,  placed  our  pemmican  in 
cache,  except  a  small  allowance  for  each  man  to  carry 


PINNACLY      BERG. 


on  his  person ;  and  poor  Olilsen,  now  just  able  to  keep 
his  legs,  was  liberated  from  his  bag.  The  thermometer 
had  fallen  by  this  time  to  — 49°. 3,  and  the  wind  was 
setting  in  sharply  from  the  northwest.  It  was  out  of 
the  question  to  halt :  it  required  brisk  exercise  to  keep 
us  from  freezing.  I  could  not  even  melt  ice  for  water ; 
and,  at  these  temperatures,  any  resort  to  snow  for  the 


LOST      ON      THE      FLOES.  191 


purpose  of  allaying  thirst  was  followed  by  bloody  lips 
and  tongue  :  it  burnt  like  caustic. 

It  was  indispensable  then  that  we  should  move  on, 
looking  out  for  traces  as  we  went.  Yet  when  the  men 
were  ordered  to  spread  themselves,  so  as  to  multiply 
the  chances,  though  they  all  obeyed  heartily,  some 
painful  impress  of  solitary  danger,  or  perhaps  it  may 
have  been  the  varying  configuration  of  the  ice-field, 
kept  them  closing  up  continually  into  a  single  group. 
The  strange  manner  in  which  some  of  us  were  affected 
I  now  attribute  as  much  to  shattered  nerves  as  to  the 
direct  influence  of  the  cold.  Men  like  McGary  and 
Bonsall,  who  had  stood  out  our  severest  marches,  were 
seized  with  trembling-fits  and  short  breath ;  and,  in 
spite  of  all  my  efforts  to  keep  up  an  example  of  sound 
bearing,  I  fainted  twice  on  the  snow. 

"We  had  been  nearly  eighteen  hours  out  without 
water  or  food,  when  a  new  hope  cheered  us.  I  think 
it  was  Hans,  our  Esquimaux  hunter,  who  thought  he 
saw  a  broad  sledge-track.  The  drift  had  nearly  effaced 
it,  and  we  were  some  of  us  doubtful  at  first  whether  it 
was  not  one  of  those  accidental  rifts  which  the  gales 
make  in  the  surface-snow.  But,  as  we  traced  it  on  to 
the  deep  snow  among  the  hummocks,  we  were  led  to 
footsteps ;  and,  following  these  with  religious  care,  we 
at  last  came  in  sight  of  a  small  American  flag  flutter- 
ing from  a  hummock,  and  lower  down  a  little  Masonic 
banner  hanging  from  a  tent-pole  hardly  above  the  drift. 
It  was  the  camp  of  our  disabled  comrades  :  we  reached 
it  after  an  unbroken  march  of  twenty-one  hours. 


192  PARTY     FOUND. 


The  little  tent  was  nearly  covered,  I  was  not  among 
the  first  to  come  up ;  but,  when  I  reached  the  tent-cur- 
tain, the  men  were  standing  in  silent  file  on  each  side 
of  it.  With  more  kindness  and  delicacy  of  feeling  than 
is  often  supposed  to  belong  to  sailors,  but  which  is 
almost  characteristic,  they  intimated  their  wish  that  I 
should  go  in  alone.  As  I  crawled  in,  and,  coming  upon 
the  darkness,  heard  before  me  the  burst  of  welcome 
gladness  that  came  from  the  four  poor  fellows  stretched 
on  their  backs,  and  then  for  the  first  time  the  cheer 
outside,  my  weakness  and  my  gratitude  together  almost 
overcame  me.  "They  had  expected  me:  they  were 
sure  I  would  come !" 

■  We  were  now  fifteen  souls;  the  thermometer  se- 
venty-five degrees  below  the  freezing-point;  and  our 
sole  accommodation  a  tent  barely  able  to  contain  eight 
persons :  more  than  half  our  party  were  obliged  to  keep 
from  freezing  by  walking  outside  while  the  others 
slept.  We  could  not  halt  long.  Each  of  us  took  a 
turn  of  two  hours'  sleep;  and  we  prepared  for  our 
homeward  march.  » 

We  took  with  us  nothing  but  the  tent,  furs  to  pro- 
tect the  rescued  party,  and  food  for  a  journey  of  fifty 
hours.  Every  thing  else  was  abandoned.  Two  large 
bufialo-bags,  each  made  of  four  skins,  were  doubled  up, 
so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  sack,  lined  on  each  side  by  fur, 
closed  at  the  bottom  but  opened  at  the  top.  This  was 
laid  on  the  sledge ;  the  tent,  smoothly  folded,  serving  as 
a  floor.  The  sick,  with  their  limbs  sewed  up  carefully 
in  reindeer-skins,  were  placed  upon  the  bed  of  bnff^ilo- 


ri:  KILO  us     RETURN".  11)3 


robes,  in  a  lialf-reclining  posture;  other  skins  and 
blanket-bags  were  thrown  above  them;  and  the  whole 
litter  was  lashed  together  so  as  to  allow  but  a  single 
opening  opposite  the  mouth  for  breathing. 

This  necessary  work  cost  us  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
efibrt;  but  it  was  essential  to  the  lives  of  the  sufierers. 
It  took  us  no  less  than  four  hours  to  strip  and  refresh 
them,  and  then  to  embale  them  in  the  manner  I  have 
described.  Few  of  us  escaped  without  frostr-bitten 
fingers :  the  thermometer  was  at  5 5°. 6  below  zero,  and 
a  slight  wind  added  to  the  severity  of  the  cold. 

It  was  completed  at  last,  however;  all  hands  stood 
round;  and,  after  repeating  a  short  prayer,  we  set  out 
on  our  retreat.  It  was  fortunate  indeed  that  we  were 
not  inexperienced  in  sledging  over  the  ice.  A  great 
part  of  our  track  lay  among  a  succession  of  hummocks ; 
some  of  them  extending  in  long  lines,  fifteen  and 
twenty  feet  high,  and  so  uniformly  steep  that  we  had 
to  turn  them  by  a  considerable  deviation  from  our 
direct  course;  others  that  we  forced  our  way  through, 
far  above  our  heads  in  height,  lying  in  parallel  ridges, 
with  the  space  between  too  narrow  for  the  sledge  to  be 
lowered  into  it  safely,  and  yet  not  wide  enough  for  the 
runners  to  cross  without  the  aid  of  ropes  to  stay  them. 
These  spaces  too  were  generally  choked  with  light 
snow,  hiding  the  openings  between  the  ice-fragments. 
They  were  fearful  traps  to  disengage  a  limb  from,  for 
every  man  knew  that  a  fracture  or  a  sprain  even  would 
cost  him  his  life.  Besides  all  this,  the  sledge  was  top- 
heavy  with  its  load :  the  maimed  men  could  not  bear 

Vol.  I.— 13 


194  SUDDEN      SUCCUMBING. 


to  be  lashed  down  tight  enough  to  secure  them  against 
falling  off.  Notwithstanding  our  caution  in  rejecting 
every  superfluous  burden,  the  weight,  including  bags 
and  tent,  was  eleven  hundred  pounds. 

And  yet  our  march  for  the  first  six  hours  was  very 
cheering.  We  made  by  vigorous  pulls  and  lifts  nearly 
a  mile  an  hour,  and  reached  the  new  floes  before  we 
were  absolutely  weary.  Our  sledge  sustained  the  trial 
admirably.  Ohlsen,  restored  by  hope,  walked  steadily 
at  the  leading  belt  of  the  sledge-lines ;  and  I  began  to 
feel  certain  of  reaching  our  halfway  station  of  the  day 
before,  where  we  had  left  our  tent.  But  we  were  still 
nine  miles  from  it,  when,  almost  without  premonition, 
we  all  became  aware  of  an  alarming  failure  of  our 
energies.  • 

I  was  of  course  familiar  with  the  benumbed  and 
almost  lethargic  sensation  of  extreme  cold;  and  once, 
when  exposed  for  some  hours  in  the  midwinter  of 
Baffin's  Bay,  I  had  experienced  symptoms  which  I 
compared  to  the  diffused  paralysis  of  the  electro-gal- 
vanic shock.  But  I  had  treated  the  sleepy  comfort  of 
freezing  as  something  like  the  embellishment  of  ro- 
mance.    I  had  evidence  now  to  the  contrary. 

Bonsall  and  Morton,  two  of  our  stoutest  men,  came 
to  me,  begging  permission  to  sleep:  "they  were  not 
cold:  the  wind  did  not  enter  them  now:  a  little  sleep 
was  all  they  wanted."  Presently  Hans  was  found 
nearly  stiff  under  a  drift;  and  Thomas,  bolt  upright, 
had  his  eyes  closed,  and  could  hardly  articulate.  At 
last,  John  Blake  threw  himself  on  the  snow,  and  re- 


RETURNING     C  A  M  P.  195 


fused  to  rise.  They  did  not  complain  of  feeling  cold; 
but  it  was  in  vain  that  I  wrestled,  boxed,  ran,  argued, 
jeered,  or  -  reprimanded  :  an  immediate  halt  could  not 
be  avoided. 

We  pitched  our  tent  with  much  difficulty.  Our 
hands  were  too  powerless  to  strike  a  fire:  we  were 
obliged  to  do  without  water  or  food.  Even  the  spirits 
(whisky)  had  frozen  at  the  men's  feet,  under  all  the 
coverings.  We  put  Bonsall,  Olilsen,  Thomas,  and  Hans, 
with  the  other  sick  men,  well  inside  the  tent,  and 
crowded  in  as  many  others  as  we  could.  Then,  leaving 
the  party  in  charge  of  Mr.  McGary,  with  orders  to 
come  on  after  four  hours'  rest,  I  pushed  ahead  with 
William  Godfrey,  who  volunteered  to  be  my  com- 
panion. My  aim  was  to  reach  the  halfway  tent,  and 
thaw  some  ice  and  pemmican  before  the  others  arrived. 

The  floe  was  of  level  ice,  and  the  walking  excellent. 
I  cannot  tell  how  long  it  took  us  to  make  the  nine 
miles;  for  we  were  in  a  strange  sort  of  stupor,  and  had 
little  apprehension  of  time.  It  was  probably  about 
four  hours.  We  kept  ourselves  awake  by  imposing  on 
each  other  a  continued  articulation  of  words;  they 
must  have  been  incoherent  enough.  I  recall  these 
hours  as  among  the  most  wretched  I  have  ever  gone 
through:  we  were  neither  of  us  in  our  right  senses, 
and  retained  a  very  confused  recollection  of  what  pre- 
ceded our  arrival  at  the  tent.  We  both  of  us,  however, 
remember  a  bear,  who  walked  leisurely  before  us  and 
tore  up  as  he  went  a  jumper  that  Mr.  McGary  had 
improvidently  thro^vn  off  the  day  before.     lie  tore  it 


196  •  A     B  I  V  0  U  A  C. 


into  shreds  and  rolled  it  into  a  ball,  but  never  offered 
to  interfere  with  our  j)rogress.  I  remember  this,  and 
with  it  a  confused  sentiment  that  our  tent  and  buffalo- 
robes  might  probably  share  the  same  fate.  Godfrey, 
with  whom  the  memory  of  this  day's  work  may  atone 
for  many  faults  of  a  later  time,  had  a  better  eye  than 
mj^self;  and,  looking  some  miles  ahead,  he  could  see 
that  our  tent  was  undergoing  the  same  unceremonious 
treatment.      I  thou2:ht  I  saw  it  too,  but  we  were 


so 


drunken  with  cold  that  we  strode  on  steadily,  and,  for 
aught  I  know,  without  quickening  our  pace. 

Probably  our  approach  saved  the  contents  of  the 
tent;  for  when  we  reached  it  the  tent  was  uninjured, 
though  the  bear  had  overturned  it,  tossing  the  buffalo- 
robes  and  pemmican  into  the  snow;  we  missed  only  a 
couple  of  blanket-bags.  What  we  recollect,  however, 
and  perhaps  all  we  recollect,  is,  that  we  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  raising  it.  We  crawled  into  our  reindeer 
sleeping-bags,  without  speaking,  and  for  the  next  three 
hours  slept  on  in  a  dreamy  but  intense  slumber. 
When  I  awoke,  my  long  beard  Avas  a  mass  of  ice, 
frozen  fast  to  the  buffalo-skin :  Godfrej-  had  to  cut  me 
out  with  his  jack-knife.  Four  days  after  our  escape,  I 
found  my  woollen  comfortable  with  a  goodly  share  of 
my  beard  still  adhering  to  it. 

We  were  able  to  melt  water  and  get  some  soup 
cooked  before  the  rest  of  our  party  arrived :  it  took 
them  but  five  hours  to  walk  the  nine  miles.  They 
were  doing  well,  and,  considering  the  circumstances,  in 
wonderful  spirits.     The  day  was  most  providentially 


EXHAUSTED.      ■  197 


windless,  with  a  clear  sun.  All  enjoyed  the  refresh- 
ment we  had  got  ready :  the  crippled  were  repacked  in 
their  robes ;  and  we  sped  briskly  toward  the  hummock- 
ridges  which  lay  bet^vecn  us  and  the  Pinnacly  Berg. 

The  hummocks  w^e  had  now  to  meet  came  properly 
under  the  designation  of  squeezed  ice.  A  great  chain 
of  bergs  stretching  from  northwest  to  southeast,  moving 
with  the  tides,  had  compressed  the  surface-floes;  and, 
rearing  them  up  on  their  edges,  produced  an  area  more 
like  the  volcanic  pedragal  of  the  basin  of  Mexico  than 
any  thing  else  I  can  compare  it  to.  ■     - 

It  required  desperate  efforts  to  work  our  way  over 
it, — literally  desperate,  for  our  strength  failed  us  anew, 
and  we  began  to  lose  our  self-control.  We  could  not 
abstain  any  longer  from  eating  snow :  our  mouths 
swelled,  and  some  of  us  became  speechless.  Happily 
the  day  was  warmed  by  a  clear  sunshine,  and  the 
thermometer  rose  to  — 4°  in  the  shade :  otherwise  we 
must  have  frozen. 

Our  halts  multiplied,  and  we  fell  half-sleeping  on 
the  snow.  I  could  not  prevent  it.  Strange  to  say,  it 
refreshed  us.  I  ventured  upon  the  experiment  myself, 
making  Riley  wake  me  at  the  end  of  three  minutes ; 
and  I  felt  so  much  benefited  by  it  that  I  timed  the 
men  in  the  same  way.  They  sat  on  the  runners  of  the 
sledge,  fell  asleep  instantly,  and  were  forced  to  wake- 
fulness when  their  three  minutes  were  out. 

By  eight  in  the  evening  we  emerged  from  the  floes. 
The  sight  of  the  Pinnacly  Berg  revived  us.  Brandy, 
an  invaluable  resource  in  emergency,  had  already  been 


198  ESCAPE TREATMENT. 


served  out  in  tablespoonful  doses.  We  now  took  a 
longer  rest,  and  a  last  but  stouter  dram,  and  reached 
the  brig  at  1  P.  M.,  we  believe  without  a  halt. 

I  say  loe  helieve;  and  here  perhaps  is  the  most  de- 
cided j)roof  of  our  sufferings :  we  were  quite  delirious, 
and  had  ceased  to  entertain  a  sane  apprehension  of  the 
circumstances  about  us.  We  moved  on  like  men  in  a 
dream.  Our  footmarks  seen  afterward  showed  that  we 
had  steered  a  bee-line  for  the  brig.  It  must  have  been 
by  a  sort  of  instinct,  for  it  left  no  impress  on  the 
memory.  Bonsall  was  sent  staggering  ahead,  and 
reached  the  brig,  God  knows  how,  for  he  had  fallen 
re]3eatedly  at  the  track-lines ;  but  he  delivered  with 
punctilious  accuracy  the  messages  I  had  sent  by  him 
to  Dr.  Hayes.  I  thought  myself  the  soundest  of  all, 
for  I  went  through  all  the  formula  of  sanity,  and  can 
recall  the  muttering  delirium  of  my  comrades  when  we 
got  back-  into  the  cabin  of  our  brig.  Yet  I  have  been 
told  since  of  some  speeches  and  some  orders  too  of 
mine,  which  I  should  have  remembered  for  their  ab- 
surdity if  my  mind  had  retained  its  balance. 

Petersen  and  Whi23ple  came  out  to  meet  us  about 
two  miles  from  the  brig.  They  brought  my  dog-team, 
with  the  restoratives  I  had  sent  for  by  Bonsall.  I  do 
not  remember  their  coming.  Dr.  Hayes  entered  with 
judicious  energy  upon  the  treatment  our  condition 
called  for,  administering  morphine  freely,  after  the 
usual  frictions.  He  reported  none  of  our  brain-symp 
toms  as  serious,  referring  them  properly  to  the  class  of 
those  indications  of  exhausted  power  which  yield  to 


CONSEQUENCES. 


199 


generous  diet  and  rest.  Mr.  Olilsen  suffered  some  time 
from  strabismus  and  blindness :  two  others  underwent 
amputation  of  parts  of  tlie  foot,  without  unpleasant 
consequences ;  and  two  died  in  spite  of  all  our  efforts. 
This  rescue  party  had  been  out  for  seventy-two  hours. 
We  had  halted  in  all  eight  hours,  half  of  our  number 
sleeping  at  a  time.  We  travelled  between  eighty  and 
ninety  miles,  most  of  the  way  dragging  a  heavy  sledge. 
The  mean  temp.erature  of  the  whole  time,  including 
the  warmest  hours  of  three  days,  was  at  minus  41°. 2. 
We  had  no  water  except  at  our  two  halts,  and  were  at 
no  time  able  to  intermit  vigorous  exercise  without 
freezing. 

"April  4,  Tuesday. — Four  days  have  passed,  and  I 
am  again  at  my  record  of  failures,  sound  but  aching 
still  in  every  joint.  The  rescued  men  are  not  out  of 
danger,  but  their  gratitude  is  very  touching.  Pray 
God  that  they  may  live  !" 


INSIDE       OF      TENT. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

baker's    DEATU  —  A   VISIT THE    ESQUIMAUX A   NEGOTIATION 

THEIR      EQUIPMENT THEIR      DEPORTMENT A     TREATY THE 

FAREWELL THE     SEQUEL MYOUK HIS     ESCAPE SCHUBERT'S 

ILLNESS. 

The  week  that  followed  has  left  me  nothing  to  re- 
member but  anxieties  and  sorrow.  Nearly  all  our 
party,  as  well  the  rescuers  as  the  rescued,  were  tossing 
in  their  sick-bunks,  some  frozen,  others  undergoing 
amputations,  several  with  dreadful  premonitions  of 
tetanus.  I  was  myself  among  the  first  to  be  about : 
the  necessities  of  the  others  claimed  it  of  me. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  7th  I  was  awakened  by 
a  sound  from  Baker's  throat,  one  of  those  the  most 
frightful  and  ominous  that  ever  startle  a  physician's 
ear.  The  lock-jaw  had  seized  him, — that  dark  visitant 
whose  foreshado wings  were  on  so  many  of  us.  His 
symptoms  marched  rapidly  to  their  result :  he  died  on 
the  8th  of  April.  We  placed  him  the  next  day  in  his 
coffin,  and,  forming  a  rude  but  heartfull  procession, 
bore  him  over  the  broken  ice  and  up  the  steep  side  of 
the  ice-foot  to  Butler  Island ;   then,  passing  along  the 

200 


baker's    death.  201 

snow-level  to  Fern  Rock,  and,  climbing  the  slope  of  the 
Observatory,  we  deposited  his  corpse  upon  the  pedestals 
which  had  served  to  support  our  transit-instrument 
and  theodolite.  We  read  the  service  for  the  burial  of 
the  dead,  sprinkling  over  him  snow  for  dust,  and  re- 
peated the  Lord's  Prayer;  and  then,  icing  up  again 
the  opening  in  the  walls  we  had  made  to  admit  the 
coffin,  left  him  in  his  narrow  house. 

Jefferson  Baker  was  a  man  of  kind  heart  and  true 
principles.  I  knew  him  when  we  were  both  younger. 
I  passed  two  happy  seasons  at  a  little  cottage  adjoining 
his  father's  farm.  He  thought  it  a  privilege  to  join 
this  expedition,  as  in  those  green  summer  days  when 
I  had  allowed  him  to  take  a  gun  Avith  me  on  some 
shooting-part}'.  He  relied  on  me  with  the  affectionate 
confidence  of  boyhood,  and  I  never  gave  him  a  harsh 
word  or  a  hard  thought. 

We  were  watching  in  the  morning  at  Baker's  death- 
bed, when  one  of  our  deck-watch,  who  had  been  cutting 
ice  for  the  melter,  came  hurrying  down  into  the  cabin 
with  the  report,  "  People  hollaing  ashore  !"  I  went  up>, 
followed  by  as  many  as  could  mount  the  gangway; 
and  there  they  were,  on  all  sides  of  our  rocky  harbor, 
dotting  the  snow-shores  and  emerging  from  the  black- 
ness of  the  cliffs, — wild  and  uncouth,  but  evidently 
human  beings. 

As  we  gathered  on  the  deck,  they  rose  upon  the 
more  elevated  fragments  of  the  land-ice,  standing  singly 
and  conspicuously  like  the  figures  in  a  tableau  of  the 
opera,  and  distributing  themselves  around  almost  in  a 


202 


ESQUIMAUX     VISITORS. 


half-circle.  They  were  vociferating  as  if  to  attract  our 
attention,  or  perhaps  only  to  give  vent  to  their  sur- 
prise ;  but  I  could  make  nothing  out  of  their  cries, 
except  "Hoah,  ha,  ha!"  and  "Ka,  kardi!  ka,  kaali !" 
repeated  over  and  over  again. 


MEETING      THE       ESQUIMAUX. 


There  was  light  enough  for  me  to  see  that  the}^ 
brandished  no  wea^Dons,  and  were  only  tossing  their 
heads  and  arms  about  in  violent  gesticulations.  A 
more  unexcited  inspection  showed  us,  too,  that  their 
numbers   were   not  as  great   nor   their   size   as   Pata- 


THE      ESQUIMAUX.  203 


gonial!  as  some  of  us  had  been  disposed  to  fancy  at 
first.  In  a  word,  I  was  satisfied  that  they  were  natiA^es 
of  the  country ;  and,  calling  Petersen  from  his  bunk  to 
be  my  interpreter,  I  proceeded,  unarmed  and  waving 
my  open  hands,  toward  a  stout  figure  who  made  him- 
self conspicuous  and  seemed  to  have  a  greater  number 
near  him  than  the  rest.  He  evidently  understood  the 
movement,  for  he  at  once,  like  a  brave  fellow,  leaped 
down  upon  the  floe  and  advanced  to  meet  me  fully 
half-way. 

He  was  nearlj^  a  head  taller  than  myself,  extremely 
powerful  and  well-built,  with  swarthy  complexion  and 
piercing  black  eyes.  His  dress  was  a  hooded  capote 
or  jumper  of  mixed  white  and  l^lue  fox-pelts,  arranged 
with  something  of  fancy,  and  booted  trousers  of  white 
bear-skin,  which  at  the  end  of  the  foot  were  made  to 
terminate  with  the  claws  of  the  animal. 

I  soon  came  to  an  understanding  with  this  gallant 
diplomatist.  Almost  as  soon  as  we  commenced  our 
parley,  his  companions,  probably  receiving  signals 
from  him,  flocked  in  and  surrounded  us ;  but  we  had 
no  difficulty  in  making  them  know  positively  that  they 
must  remain  where  they  were,  while  Metek  went  with 
me  on  board  the  ship.  This  gave  me  the  advantage 
of  negotiating,  with  an  important  hostage. 

Although  this  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen 
a  white  man,  he  went  with  me  fearlessly;  his  com- 
panions staying  Ijchind  on  the  ice.  Hickey  took  them 
out  what  he  esteemed  our  greatest  delicacies, — slices 
of  good  wheat  bread,  and  corned  pork,  with  exorbitant 


204 


A     NEGOTIATION. 


lumps  of  white  sugar;  but  they  refused  to  touch  them. 
They  had  evidently  no  ajDprehension  of  open  violence 
from  us.  I  found  afterward  that  several  among  them 
were  singly  a  match  for  the  white  bear  and  the  walrus, 
and  that  they  thought  us  a  very  pale-faced  crew. 


Being  satisfied  with  my  interview  in  the  cabin,  I 
sent  out  word  that  the  rest  might  be  admitted  to  the 
ship;  and,  although  they,  of  course,  could  not  know 
how  their  chief  had  been  dealt  with,  some  nine  or  ten 
of  them  followed  with  boisterous  readiness  upon  the 
bidding.     Others  in  the  mean  time,  as  if  disposed  to 


THEIR     EQUIPMENT.  205 


give  us  their  company  for  the  full  time  of  a  visit, 
brought  up  from  behind  the  land-ice  as  many  as  fifty- 
six  fine  dogs,  with  their  sledges,  and  secured  them 
within  two  hundred  feet  of  the  brig,  driving  their 
lances  into  the  ice,  and  picketing  the  dogs  to  them  by 
the  seal-skin  traces.  The  animals  understood  the 
operation  perfectly,  and  lay  down  as  soon  as  it  com- 
menced.     The   sledges  were   made  up  of  small  frag- 


hATlVE     SLEDGE,    (KOOMETIK,>— CELLULAR     BONE     OF     WHALE. 

ments  of  porous  bone,  admirably  knit  together  by 
thongs  of  hide ;  the  runners,  which  glistened  like  bur- 
nished steel,  were  of  highly-polished  ivory,  obtained 
from  the  tusks  of  the  walrus. 

The  only  arms  they  carried  were  knives,  concealed 
in  their  boots ;  but  their  lances,  which  were  lashed  to 
the  sledges,  were  quite  a  formidable  weapon.  The 
staff  was  of  the  horn  of  the  narwhal,  or  else  of  the 
thigh-bones  of  the  bear,  two  lashed  together,  or  some- 
times the  mirabilis  of  the  walrus,  three  or  four  of  them 


20G 


THEIR     EQUIPMENT. 


united.  This  last  was  a  favorite  material  also  for  the 
cross-bars  of  their  sledges.  They  had  no  wood.  A 
single  rusty  hoop  from  a  current-drifted  cask  might 
have  furnished  all  the  knives  of  the  party;   but  the 


HOOP-IRON      KNIFE,      (S  E  V  1  K   ) 


fleam-shaped  tips  of  their  lances  were  of  unmistakable 
steel,  and  were  riveted  to  the  tapering  bony  point 
with  no  mean  skill.  I  learned  afterward  that  the 
metal  was  obtained  in  traffic  from  the  more  southern 
tribes. 


WALRUS      LANCE. 


I  give  drawings  of  the  lance-head,  and  of  the  knives 
which  the  party  carried.  They  were  clad  much  as  I 
have  described  Metek,  in  jumpers,  boots,  and  white 
bear-skin  breeches,  with  their  feet  decorated  like  his. 


THEIR     DEPORTMENT. 


207 


en  gvlffe.  A  strip  of  knotted  leather  worn  round  the 
neck,  very  greasy  and  dirty-looking,  which  no  one 
could  be  persuaded  to  part  with  for  an  instant,  was 
mistaken  at  first  for  an  ornament  by  the  crew :  it 
was  not  until  mutual  hardships  had  made  us  better 
acquainted  that  we  learned  its  mysterious  uses. 


NESSAK,     IJUMPER-HOOD,)     IN     riiS     TKAVhLLINu     DRtsS. 


When  they  were  first  allowed  to  come  on  board, 
they  were  very  rude  and  difficult  to  manage.  They 
spoke  three  or  four  at  a  time,  to  each  other  and  to  us, 
laughing  heartily  at  our  ignorance  in  not  understand- 
ing them,  and  then  talking  away  as  before.  They 
were  incessantly  in  motion,  going  everywhere,  trying 
doors,  and  squeezing  themselves  through  dark  passages, 


208  THEIR     DEPORTMENT. 


round  casks  and  boxes,  and  out  into  the  liglit  again, 
anxious  to  touch  and  handle  every  thing  they  saw, 
and  asking  for,  or  else  endeavoring  to  steal,  every  thing 
they  touched.  It  was  the  more  difficult  to  restrain 
them,  as  I  did  not  wish  them  to  suppose  that  we  were 
at  all  intimidated.  But  there  were  some  signs  of  our 
disabled  condition  which  it  was  important  they  should 
not  see :  it  was  especially  necessary  to  keep  them  out 
of  the  forecastle,  where  the  dead  body  of  poor  Baker 
was  lying :  and,  as  it  was  in  vain  to  reason  or  per- 
suade, we  had  at  last  to  employ  the  "  gentle  laying-on 
of  hands,"  wdiich,  I  believe,  the  laws  of  all  countries 
tolerate,  to  keep  them  in  order. 

Our  whole  force  was  mustered  and  kept  constantly 
on  the  alert;  but,  though  there  may  have  been  some- 
thing of  discourtesy  in  the  occasional  shoulderings  and 
bustlings  that  enforced  the  police  of  the  ship,  things 
went  on  good-humouredly.  Our  guests  continued 
running  in  and  out  and  about  the  vessel,  bringing  in 
provisions,  and  carrying  them  out  again  to  their  dogs 
on  the  ice,  in  fact,  stealing  all  the  time,  until  the 
afternoon ;  when,  like  tired  children,  they  threw  them- 
selves do^vn  to  sleep.  I  ordered  them  to  be  made 
comfortable  in  the  hold;  and  Morton  spread  a  large 
buffalo-robe  for  them,  not  far  from  a  coal-fire  in  the 
galley-stove. 

They  Avere  lost  in  barbarous  amaze  at  the  new  fuel, 
— too  hard  for  blubber,  too  soft  for  firestone ; — but  they 
were  content  to  believe  it  might  cook  as  well  as  seals'- 
fat.     They  borrowed  from  us  an  iron  pot   and   some 


A     TREATY     FORMED.  209 


melted  water,  and  parboiled  a  couple  of  pieces  of 
walrus-meat;  but  the  real  piece  de  resistance^  some  five 
pounds  a  head,  they  preferred  to  eat  raw.  Yet  there 
was  something  of  the  gourmet  in  their  mode  of  assorting 
their  mouthfuls  of  beef  and  blubber.  Slices  of  each, 
or  rather  stri]DS,  passed  between  the  lips,  either  to- 
gether or  in  strict  alternation,  and  with  a  regularity  of 
sequence  that  kept  the  molars  well  to  their  work. 

They  did  not  eat  all  at  once,  but  each  man  when 
and  as  often  as  the  impulse  prompted.  Each  slept  after 
eating,  his  raw  chunk  lying  beside  him  on  the  buffalo- 
skin  ;  and,  as  he  woke,  the  first  act  was  to  eat,  and  the 
next  to  sleep  again.  They  did  not  lie  down,  but  slum- 
bered away  in  a  sitting  posture,  with  the  head  declined 
upon  the  breast,  some  of  them  snoring  famously. 

In  the  morning  they  were  anxious  to  go;  but  I  had 
given  orders  to  detain  them  for  a  parting  interview 
with  myself.  It  resulted  in  a  treaty,  brief  in  its  terms, 
that  it  might  be  certainly  remembered,  and  mutually 
beneficial,  that  it  might  possibly  be  kept.  I  tried  to 
make  them  understand  what  a  powerful  Prospero  they 
had  had  for  a  host,  and  how  beneficent  he  would  prove 
himself  so  long  as  they  did  his  bidding.  And,  as  an 
earnest  of  my  favor,  I  bought  all  the  walrus-meat  they 
had  to  spare,  and  four  of  their  dogs,  enriching  them  in 
return  with  needles  and  beads  and  a  treasure  of  old 
cask-staves. 

In  the  fulness  of  their  gratitude,  they  pledged  them- 
selves emphatically  to  return  in  a  few  days  with  more 
meat,  and  to  allow  me  to  use  their  dogs  and  sledges  for 


Vol.  I  — 11 


210 


THE      FAREWELL. 


my  excursions  to  the  north.  I  then  gave  them  leave 
to  go.  They  yoked  in  their  dogs  in  less  than  two 
minutes,  got  on  their  sledges,  cracked  their  two-fathom- 
and-a-half-long  seal-skin  whips,  and  were  off  down  the 
ice  to  the  southwest  at  a  rate  of  seven  knots  an  hour. 


WILD      DOG      TEAM. 


They  did  not  return :  I  had  read  enough  of  treaty- 
makings  not  to  expect  them  too  confidently.  But  the 
next  day  came  a  party  of  five,  on  foot ;  two  old  men, 
one  of  middle  age,  and  a  couple  of  gawky  Ijoys.  We 
had  missed  a  number  of  articles  soon  after  the  first 
party  left  us,  an  axe,  a  saw,  and  some  knives.  We 
found  afterward  that  our  storehouse  at  Butler  Island 
had  been  entered :  we  were  too  short-handed  to  guard 


THE      SEQUEL.  211 


it  by  a  special  watch.  Besides  all  this,  reconnoitring 
stealthily  beyond  Sylvia  Head,  we  discovered  a  train 
of  sledges  drawn  up  behind  the  hummocks. 

There  was  cause  for  apprehension  in  all  this ;  but  I 
felt  that  I  could  not  afford  to  break  with  the  rogues. 
They  had  it  in  their  power  to  molest  us  seriously  in 
our  sledge-travel;  they  could  make  our  hunts  around 
the  harbor  dangerous ;  and  my  best  chance  of  obtain- 
ing an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  meat,  our  great  desi- 
deratum, was  by  their  agency.  I  treated  the  new 
party  with  marked  kindness,  and  gave  them  many 
presents;  but  took  care  to  make  them  aware  that,  until 
all  the  missing  articles  were  restored,  no  member  of 
the  tribe  would  be  admitted  again  as  a  guest  on  board 
the  brig.  They  went  off  with  many  pantomimic  pro- 
testations of  innocence;  but  McGary,  nevertheless, 
caught  the  incorrigible  scamps  stealing  a  coal-barrel  as 
they  passed  Butler  Island,  and  expedited  their  journey 
homeward  by  firing  among  them  a  charge  of  small 
shot. 

Still,  one  peculiar  worthy — we  thought  it  must  have 
been  the  venerable  of  the  party,  whom  I  knew  after- 
ward as  a  stanch  friend,  old  Shang-huh — managed  to 
work  round  in  a  westerly  direction,  and  to  cut  to  pieces 
my  India-rubber  boat,  which  had  been  left  on  the  floe 
since  Mr.  Brooks's  disaster,  and  to  carry  off  every  par- 
ticle of  the  wood. 

A  few  days  after  this,  an  agile,  elfin  youth  drove  up 
to  our  floe  in  open  day.  He  was  sprightly  and  good- 
looking,  and  had  quite  a  neat  turn-out  of  sledge  and 


212 


MYOUK     DETAINED. 


dogs.  He  told  his  name  '  with  frankness,  '^^Myouh, 
I  am,"  —  and  where  he  lived.  We  asked  him  about 
the  boat;  but  he  denied  all  knowledge  of  it,  and  re- 
fused either  to  confess  or  repent.  He  was  surprised 
when  I  ordered  him  to  be  confined  to  the  hold.  At 
first  he  refused  to  eat,  and  sat  down  in  the  deepest 


grief;  but  after  a  while  he  began  to  sing,  and  then  to 
talk  and  cvj,  and  then  to  sing  again ;  and  so  he  kept 
on  rehearsing  his  limited  solfeggio, — 


:^ 


and  crying  and  talking  by  turns,  till  a  late  hour  of  the 


ins    ESCAPE.  213 


niglit.  When  I  turned  in,  he  was  still  noisily  discon- 
soLate. 

There  was  a  simplicity  and  honliommie  about  this 
boy  that  interested  me  much ;  and  I  confess  that 
when  I  made  my  appearance  next  morning — I  could 
hardly  conceal  it  from  the  gentleman  on  duty,  whom 
I  affected  to  censure — I  was  glad  my  bird  had  flown. 
Some  time  during  the  morning-watch,  he  had  succeeded 
in  throwing  off  the  hatch  and  escaping.  We  sus- 
pected that  he  had  confederates  ashore,  for  his  dogs 
had  escaped  with  as  much  address  as  himself  I  was 
convinced,  however,  that  I  had  the  truth  from  him, 
where  he  lived  and  how  many  lived  with  him ;  my 
cross-examination  on  these  points  having  been  very 
complete  and  satisfactory. 

It  was  a  sad  business  for  some  time  after  these  Es- 
quimaux left  us,  to  go  on  making  and  registering  our 
observations  at  Fern  Rock.  Baker's  corpse  still  lay  in 
the  vestibule,  and  it  Avas  not  long  before  another  was 
placed  by  the  side  of  it.  We  had  to  pass  the  bodies  as 
often  as  we  went  in  or  out ;  but  the  men,  grown  feeble 
and  nervous,  disliked  going  near  them  in  the  night- 
time. When  the  summer  thaw  came  and  we  could 
gather  stones  enough,  we  Ijuilt  up  a  grave  on  a  de- 
pression of  the  rocks,  and  raised  o^  substantial  cairn 
above  it. 

"April  19,  Wednesday. — I  have  been  out  on  the 
floe  again,  breaking  in  my  dogs.  My  reinforcement 
from  tlie  Esquimaux  makes  a  noljle  team  for  me.  For 
the  last  five  days  I  have  been  striving  with  them,  just 


214  Schubert's    illness. 


as  often  and  as  long  as  my  strength  allowed  me ;  and 
to-day  I  have  my  victory.  The  Society  for  Preventing 
Cruelty  to  Animals  would  have  put  me  in  custody,  if 
they  had  been  near  enough ;  but,  thanks  to  a  merciless 
whip  freely  administered,  I  have  been  dashing  along 
twelve  miles  in  the  last  hour,  and  am  back  again; 
harness,  sledge,  and  bones  all  unbroken.  I  am  ready 
for  another  journey. 

"April  22,  Saturday. — Schubert  has  increasing  sym^D- 
toms  of  erysipelas  around  his  amputated  stump ;  and 
every  one  on  board  is  depressed  and  silent  except 
himself.  He  is  singing  in  his  bunk,  as  joyously  as 
ever,  'Aux  gens  atrabilaires,' &c.  Poor  fellow !  I  am 
alarmed  about  him :  it  is  a  hard  duty  which  compels 
me  to  take  the  field  while  my  presence  might  cheer 
his  last  moments." 


THE       KAPF'AH,      OR      JUMPER, 


CHAPTER  XVm. 

AN    EXPLORATION EQUIPMENT OUTFIT DEPARTURE RESULTS 

EEATURES    OF    COAST ARCHITECTURAL    ROCKS THREE   BROTHER 

TURRETS  —  Tennyson's   monument  —  the    great    glacier   of 

HUMBOLDT. 

The  month  of  April  was  about  to  close,  and  the 
i!!hort  season  available  for  Arctic  search  was  upon  us. 
The  condition  of  things  on  board  the  brig  was  not 
such  as  I  could  have  wished  for ;  but  there  was 
nothing  to  exact  my  presence,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
clear  that  the  time  had  come  for  pressing  on  the  work 
of  the  expedition.  The  arrangements  for  our  renewed 
exploration  had  not  been  intermitted,  and  were  soon 
complete.     I  leave  to  my  journal  its  own  story. 

"April  25,  Tuesday. — A  journey  on  the  carpet;  and 
the  crew  busy  with  the  little  details  of  their  outfit : 
the  officers  the  same. 

"  I  have  made  a  log-line  for  sledge-travel,  with  a 
contrivance  for  fastening  it  to  the  ice  and  liberating  it 
at  pleasure.  It  will  give  me  my  dead  reckoning  quite 
as  well  as  on  the  water.  I  have  a  team  now  of  seven 
dogs,  four  that  I  bought  of  the  Esquimaux,  and  three 


216  AN     EXPLORATION. 


of  my  old  stock.  They  go  together  quite  respectably. 
Godfrey  and  myself  will  go  with  them  on  foot,  follow- 
ing the  first  sledge  on  Thursday. 

"April  26,  Wednesday. — McGary  went  yesterday- 
with  the  leading  sledge ;  and,  as  Brooks  is  still  on  his 
back  in  consequence  of  the  amputation,  I  leave  Ohlsen 
in  charge  of  the  brig.  He  has  my  instructions  in  full : 
among  them  I  have  dwelt  largely  upon  the  treatment 
of  the  natives. 

"  These  Esquimaux  must  be  Avatched  carefully,  at 
the  same  time  that  they  are  to  be  dealt  with  kindly, 
though  with  a  strict  enforcement  of  our  police-regula- 
tions and  some  caution  as  to  the  freedom  with  which 
they  may  come  on  board.  No  punishments  must  be 
permitted,  either  of  them  or  in  their  presence,  and  no 
resort  to  fire-arms  unless  to  repel  a  serious  attack.  I 
have  given  orders,  however,  that  if  the  contingency 
does  occur  there  shall  be  no  firing  over  head.  The 
IDTestige  of  the  gun  with  a  savage  is  in  his  notion  of 
its  infallibilit}^  You  may  spare  bloodshed  by  killing 
a  dog  or  even  wounding  him ;  but  in  no  event  should 
you  throw  away  your  ball.  It  is  neither  politic  nor 
humane. 

"  Our  stowage-precautions  are  all  arranged,  to  meet 
the  chance  of  the  ice  breaking  up  while  I  am  away; 
and  a  boat  is  placed  ashore  with  stores,  as  the  brig 
may  be  forced  from  her  moorings. 

"The  worst  thought  I  have  now  in  setting  out  is, 
that  of  the  entire  crew  I  can  leave  but  two  behind  in 
able  condition,  and  the  doctor  and  Bonsall  are  the  only 


EQUIPMENT.  217 


two  officers  who  can  help  Ohlsen.  This  is  our  force, 
four  able-bodied  and  six  disabled  to  keep  the  brig:  the 
commander  and  seven  men,  scarcely  better  upon  the 
average,  out  upon  the  ice.  Eighteen  souls,  thank  God ! 
certainly  not  eighteen  bodies ! 

"  I  am  going  this  time  to  follow  the  ice-belt  (Eis-fod) 
to  the  Great  Glacier  of  Humboldt,  and  there  load  up 
with  pemmican  from  our  cache  of  last  October.  From 
this  jDoint  I  expect  to  stretch  along  the  face  of  the 
glacier  inclining  to  the  west  of  north,  and  make  an 
attempt  to  cross  the  ice  to  the  American  side.  Once 
on  smooth  ice,  near  this  shore,  I  may  pass  to  the  west, 
and  enter  the  large  indentation  whose  existence  I  can 
infer  with  nearly  positive  certainty.  In  this  I  may 
lind  an  outlet,  and  determine  the  state  of  things 
beyond  the  ice-clogged  area  of  this  bay. 

"I  take  with  me  pemmican  and  bread  and  tea,  a 
canvas  tent,  five  feet  by  six,  and  two  sleeping-bags  of 
reindeer-skin.  The  sledge  has  been  built  on  board  by 
Mr.  Ohlsen.  It  is  very  light,  of  hickory,  and  but  nine 
feet  long.  Our  kitchen  is  a  soup-kettle  for  melting 
snow  and  making  tea,  arranged  so  as  to  boil  with 
either  lard  or  spirits." 

The  pattern  of  the  tent  was  suggested  by  our  expe- 
rience during  the  fall  journeys.  The  greatest  discom- 
fort of  the  Arctic  traveller  Avhen  camping  out  is  from 
the  congealed  moisture  of  the  breath  forming  long 
feathers  of  frost  against  the  low  shelving  roof  of  the 
tent  within  a  few  inches  of  his  face.  The  remedy 
which  I  adopted  was   to  run  the   tent-poles    through 


218 


THE      OUTFIT. 


grummet-holes  in  the  canvas  about  eighteen  inches 
above  the  floor,  and  allow  the  lower  part  of  the  sides 
to  hang  down  vertically  like  a  valance,  before  forming 
the  floor-cloth.  This  arrangement  gave  ample  room 
for  breathing;  it  prevented  the  ice  forming  above  the 


THE     TENT, 


sleeper's  head,  and  the  melted  rime  from  trickling 
down  upon  it. 

"  For  instruments  I  have  a  fine  Gambey  sextant,  in 
addition  to  my  ordinary  pocket-instrument,  an  artificial 
horizon,  and  a  Barrow's  dip-circle.  These  occupy  little 
room  upon  the  sledge.  My  telescope  and  chronometer 
I  carry  on  my  person. 

"McGary  has   taken   the  'Faith.'     He   carries   few 


THE      DEPART  U  E  E. 


219 


stores,  intending  to  replenish  at  the  cache  of  Bonsall 
Point,  and  to  lay  in  pemmican  at  McGarj  Island. 
Most  of  his  cargo  consists  of  bread,  which  we  find  it 
luird  to  dispense  with  in  eating  cooked  food.  It  has  a 
good  effect  in  absorbing  the  fat  of  the  pemmican,  which 
is  apt  to  disagree  with  the  stomach." 


THE     FAITH. 


Godfrey  and  myself  followed  on  the  27th,  as  I  had 
intended.  The  journey  was  an  arduous  one  to  be  un- 
dertaken, even  under  the  most  favoring  circumstances 
and  by  unbroken  men.  It  was  to  be  the  crowning 
expedition  of  the  campaign,  to  attain  the  Ultima 
Thule  of  the  Greenland  shore,  measure  the  waste  that 
lay  between  it  and  the  unknown  West,  and  seek  round 


220  GEJSTERAL      RESULTS. 


the  farthest  circle  of  the  ice  for  an  outlet  to  the  mys- 
terious channels  beyond.  The  scheme  could  not  be 
carried  out  in  its  details.  Yet  it  was  prosecuted  far 
enough  to  indicate  what  must  be  our  future  fields  of 
labour,  and  to  determine  many  points  of  geographical 
interest.  Our  observations  were  in  general  confirma- 
tory of  those  which  had  been  made  by  Mr.  Bonsall; 
and  they  accorded  so  well  with  our  subsequent  surveys 
as  to  trace  for  us  the  outline  of  the  coast  with  great 
certainty. 

If  the  reader  has  had  the  jDatience  to  follow  the 
pathway  of  our  little  brig,  he  has  perceived  that  at 
Refuge  Harbor,  our  first  asylum,  a  marked  change 
takes  place  in  the  line  of  direction  of  the  coast. 
From  Cape  Alexander,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the 
westernmost  cape  of  Greenland,  the  shore  runs  nearly 
north  and  south,  like  the  broad  channel  of  which  it  is 
the  boundary;  but  on  reaching  Refuge  Inlet  it  bends 
nearly  at  a  right  angle,  and  follows  on  from  west  to 
east  till  it  has  passed  the  65th  degree  of  longitude. 
Between  Cape  Alexander  and  the  inlet  it  is  broken 
by  two  indentations,  the  first  of  them  near  the  Etah 
settlement,  which  was  visited  in  1855  by  the  Rescue 
Expedition  under  Lieutenant  Hartstene,  and  wdiich 
bears  on  my  charts  the  name  of  that  noble-spirited 
commander;  the  other  remembered  by  us  as  Lifeboat 
Cove.  In  both  of  these  the  glaciers  descend  to  the 
water-line,  from  an  interior  of  lofty  rock-clad  hills. *^"^^ 
My  sketches  give  but  a  rude  idea  of  their  picturesque 
sublimity. 


FEATURES     OF     COAST. 


221 


The  coast-line  is  diversified,  however,  by  numerous 
water-worn  headlands,*^^^''  which  on  reacliing  Cape 
Hatherton  decline  into  rolling  hills,'^^^'*  their  margins 
studded  with  islands,  which  are  the  favorite  breeding- 
places  of  the  eider,  the   glaucous  gull,  and  the  tern. 


ETAH,      AND      MY      BROTHER      JOHN'S      GLACIER. 


Cape  Hatherton  rises  boldly  above  these,  a  mass  of 
porphyritic  rock.^^^^ 

After  leaving  Refuge  Harbor,  the  features  of  the 
coast  undergo  a  change.  There  are  no  deep  bays  or 
discharging  glaciers;  and  it  is  only  as  we  approach 
Rensselaer  Harbor,  where  the  shore-line  begins  to 
incline  once  more  to  the  north,  that  the  deep  recesses 
and  ice-lined  fiords  make  their  appearance  again. 

The    geological    structure    changes   also,*^^^^  and   the 


222  ARCHITECTURAL      ROCKS. 


cliffs  begin  to  assume  a  series  of  varied  and  picturesque 
outlines  along  the  coast,  that  scarcely  require  the  aid  of 
imagination  to  trace  in  them  the  ruins  of  architectural 
structure.  They  come  down  boldly  to  the  shore-line, 
their  summits  rising  sometimes  more  than  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  eye,  and  the  long  cones  of  rubbish  at 
their  base  mingling  themselves  with  the  ice-foot.^"*"^ 

The  coast  retains  the  same  character  as  far  as  the 
Great  Glacier.  It  is  indented  by  four  great  bays,  all 
of  them  communicating  with  deep  gorges,  which  are 
watered  by  streams  from  the  interior  ice-fields;  yet 
none  of  them  exhibit  glaciers  of  any  magnitude  at  the 
water-line.  Dallas  Bay  shows  a  similar  formation,  and 
the  archipelago  beyond  Cape  Hunter  retains  it  almost 
without  change. ^^^^ 

The  mean  height  of  the  table-land  till  it  reaches 
the  bed  of  the  Great  Glacier  may  be  stated  in  round 
numbers  at  nine  hundred  feet,  its  tallest  summit  near 
the  water  at  thirteen  hundred,  and  the  rise  of  the 
background  above  the  general  level  at  six  hundred 
more.^"*^^  The  face  of  this  stupendous  ice-mass,  as  it 
defined  the  coast,  was  everywhere  an  abrupt  and 
threatening  precipice,  only  broken  by  clefts  and  deep 
ravines,  giving  breadth  and  interest  to  its  wild  ex- 
pression. 

The  most  picturesque  portion  of  the  North  Green- 
land coast  is  to  be  found  after  leaving  Cape  George  Rus- 
sell and  approaching  Dallas  Bay.  The  red  sandstones 
contrast  most  favorably  with  the  blank  whiteness,  asso- 
ciating the  cold  tints  of  the  dreary  Arctic  landscape 


THREE  BROTHER  TURRETS. 


223 


with  the  warm  coloring  of  more  southern  hinds.  The 
seasons  have  acted  on  the  different  layers  of  the  cliff 
so  as  to  give  them  the  appearance  of  jointed  masonry, 
and  the  narrow  line  of  greenstone  at  the  top  caps 
them  with  well-simulated  battlements. 


)fpB;*'iiiiif' 


THHEE   BROTHER   TURRETS. 


One  of  these  interesting  freaks  of  nature  became 
known  to  us  as  the  "  Three  Brother  Turrets." 

The  sloping  rubbish  at  the  foot  of  the  coast-wall  led 
up,  like  an  artificial  causeway,  to  a  gorge  that  was 
streaming  at  noonday  with  the  southern  sun ;  while 
everywhere  else  the  rock  stood  out  in  the  blackest 
shadow.     Just  at  the  edge  of  this  bright  opening  rose 


224  Tennyson's    monument. 


the  dreamy  semblance  of  a  castle,  flanked  with  triple 
towers,  completely  isolated  and  defined.  These  were 
the  "Three  Brother  Turrets." 

I  was  still  more  struck  with  another  of  the  same 
sort,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  my  halting- 
ground  beyond  Sunny  Gorge,  to  the  north  of  latitude 
79°.  A  single  cliff  of  greenstone,  marked  by  the  slaty 
limestone  that  once  encased  it,  rears  itself  from  a 
crumbled  base  of  sandstones,  like  the  boldly-chiselled 
rampart  of  an  ancient  city.  At  its  northern  extremity, 
on  the  brink  of  a  deep  ravine  wdiich  has  worn  its  way 
among  the  ruins,  there  stands  a  solitary  column  or 
minaret-tower,  as  sharply  finished  as  if  it  had  been 
cast  for  the  Place  Vendome.  Yet  the  length  of  the 
shaft  alone  is  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet;  and  it 
rises  on  a  plinth  or  pedestal  itself  two  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  high. 

I  remember  well  the  emotions  of  my  party  as  it 
first  broke  upon  our  view.  Cold  and  sick  as  I  was,  I 
brought  back  a  sketch  of  it,  which  may  have  interest 
for  the  reader,  though  it  scarcely  suggests  the  imposing 
dignity  of  this  magnificent  landmark.  Those  who  are 
happily  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Tennyson,  and 
have  communed  with  his  spirit  in  the  solitudes  of  a 
wilderness,  will  apprehend  the  impulse  that  inscribed 
the  scene  with  his  name. 

Still  beyond  this,  comes  the  archipelago  which  bears 
the  name  of  our  brig,  studded  with  the  names  of  those 
on  board  of  her  who  adhered  to  all  the  fortunes  of  the 
expedition;   and  at  its  eastern  cape  spreads  out  the 


J\>l  (i^:;  f>ij  li   ^5;■   jV  f-1  V' 


THE     GREAT     GLACIER.  225 


Great  GLacier  of  Humljoldt.  My  recollections  of  this 
glacier  are  very  distinct.  The  day  was  beautifully 
clear  on  which  I  first  saw  it ;  and  I  have  a  number  of 
sketches  made  as  we  drove  along  in  view  of  its  mag- 
nificent face.  They  disappoint  me,  giving  too  much 
white  surface  and  badly-fading  distances,  the  gran- 
deur of  the  few  bold  and  simple  lines  of  nature  being 
almost  entirely  lost. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  do  better  by  florid  description. 
Men  only  rhapsodize  about  Niagara  and  the  ocean. 
My  notes  speak  simply  of  the  "  long  ever-shining  line 
of  cliff  diminished  to  a  well-pointed  wedge  in  the  per- 
spective ;"  and  again,  of  "  the  face  of  glistening  ice, 
sweeping  in  a  long  curve  from  the  low  interior,  the 
facets  in  front  intensely  illuminated  by  the  sun." 
But  this  line  of  cliff  rose  in  solid  glassy  wall  three 
hundred  feet  above  the  water-level,  with  an  unknown 
unfathomable  depth  below  it;  and  its  curved  face, 
sixty  miles  in  length  from  Cape  Agassiz  to  Cape 
Forbes,  vanished  into  unknown  space  at  not  more 
than  a  single  day's  railroad-travel  from  the  Pole. 
The  interior  with  which  it  communicated,  and  from 
which  it  issued,  was  an  unsurveyed  mer  de  glace,  an 
ice-ocean,  to  the  eye  of  boundless  dimensions. "^"^^^ 

It  was  in  full  sight — the  mighty  crystal  bridge 
which  connects  the  two  continents  of  America  and 
Greenland.  I  say  continents ;  for  Greenland,  however 
insulated  it  may  ultimately  prove  to  be,  is  in  mass 
strictly  continental.  Its  least  possible  axis,  measured 
from  Cape  Farewell  to  the  line  of  this  glacier,  in  tlie 

Vol.  L— 15 


226 


THE      GREAT      GLACIER 


neighborhood  of  the  80th  parallel,  gives  a  length  of 
more  than  twelve  hundred  miles,  not  materially  less 
than  that  of  Australia  from  its  northern  to  its  southern 
cape/^^^ 


>^       ^^^e 


Imagine,  now,  the  centre  of  such  a  continent,  occu- 
pied through  nearly  its  whole  extent  by  a  deep  un- 
broken sea  of  ice,  that  gathers  perennial  increase  from 
the  water-shed  of  vast  snow-covered  mountains  and  all 
the  precipitations  of  the  atmosphere  upon  its  own  sur- 
face. Imagine  this,  moving  onward  like  a  great  glacial 
river,  seeking  outlets  at  every  fiord  and  valley,  rolling 


OF      HUMBOLDT. 


227 


icy  cataracts  into  the  Atlantic  and  Greenland  seas; 
and,  having  at  last  reached  the  northern  limit  of  the 
land  that  has  borne  it  up,  pouring  out  a  mighty  frozen 
torrent  into  unknown  Arctic  space/*^^ 

It  is  thus,  and  only  thus,  that  we  must  form  a  just 
conception  of  a  phenomenon  like  this  Great  Glacier. 
T  had  looked  in  my  own  mind  for  such  an  appearance, 


GLACIER      PROTRUDING      AT      CACHE      ISLAND. 


should  I  ever  be  fortunate  enough  to  reach  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Greenland.  But  now  that  it  was  before 
me,  I  could  hardly  realize  it.  I  had  recognised,  in  my 
quiet  library  at  home,  the  beautiful  analogies  which 
Forbes  and  Studer  have  developed  between  the  glacier 
and  the  river.  But  I  could  not  comprehend  at  first 
this  complete  substitution  of  ice  for  water. 

It  was  slowly  that  the   conviction  dawned  on  me, 


228 


THE      GREAT      GLACIER. 


that  I  was  looking  upon  the  counterpart  of  the  great 
river-system  of  Arctic  Asia  and  America.  Yet  here 
were  no  water-feeders  from  the  south.  Every  particle 
of  moisture  had  its  origin  within  the  Polar  circle,  and 
had  been  converted  into  ice.  There  were  no  vast  allu- 
vionSj  no  forest  or  animal  traces  borne  down  by  liquid 
torrents.  Here  was  a  plastic,  moving,  semi-solid  mass, 
obliterating  life,  swallowing  rocks  and  islands,  and 
ploughing  its  way  with  irresistible  march  through  the 
crust  of  an  investing  sea. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

PROGRESS    OF    THE    PARTY — PROSTRATION  —  DALLAS    BAY — DEATH 

OF     SCHUBERT THE     BRIG     IN     MAY PROGRESS     OP     SPRING 

M^^GARY'S     RETURN  —  DR.    HAYES's     PARTY  —  EQUIPMENT  —  SCHU- 
BERT's    FUNERAL. 

"  It  is  now  the  20tli  of  May,  and  for  the  first  time  I 
am  able,  propped  up  by  pillows  and  surrounded  by  sick 
messmates,  to  note  the  fact  that  we  have  failed  again 
to  force  the  passage  to  the  north. 

"  Godfrey  and  myself  overtook  the  advance  party 
under  McGary  two  days  after  leaving  the  brig.  Our 
dogs  were  in  fair  travelling  condition,  and,  except 
snow-blindness,  there  seemed  to  be  no  drawback  to 
our  efficiency.  In  crossing  Marshall  Bay,  we  found 
the  snow  so  accumulated  in  drifts,  that,  with  all  our 
efforts  to  pick  out  a  track,  we  became  involved :  we 
could  not  force  our  sledges  through.  We  were  forced 
to  unload  and  carry  forward  the  cargo  on  our  backs, 
beating  a  path  for  the  dogs  to  follow  in.  In  this  way 
we  plodded  on  to  the  opposite  headland.  Cape  Wil- 
liam Wood,  where  the  waters  of  Mary  Minturn  River, 
which  had  delayed  the  freezing  of  the  ice,  gave  us  a 

221) 


230  PROGRESS     OF      THE      PARTY. 


long  reach  of  level  travel.  We  then  made  a  better 
rate ;  and  our  days'  marches  were  such  as  to  carry  us 
l)y  the  4th  of  May  nearly  to  the  glacier. 

"  This  progress,  however,  was  dearly  earned.  As 
early  as  the  3d  of  May,  the  winter's  scurvy  reap- 
peared painfully  among  our  part}^  As  we  struggled 
through  the  snow  along  the  Greenland  coast  we  sank 
up  to  our  middle,  and  the  dogs,  floundering  about,  were 
so  buried  as  to  preclude  oiij  attempts  at  hauling.  This 
excessive  snow-deposit  seemed  to  be  due  to  the  pre- 
cipitation of  cold  condensing  wind  suddenl}^  wafted 
from  the  neighboring  glacier;  for  at  Rensselaer  Har- 
bor we  had  only  four  inches  of  general  snow  depth. 
It  obliged  us  to  unload  our  sledges  again,  and  carry 
their  cargo,  a  labor  which  resulted  in  dropsical  swell- 
ings with  painful  prostration.  Here  three  of  the  party 
were  taken  with  snow-blindness,  and  George  Stephen- 
son had  to  be  condemned  as  unfit  for  travel  altogether, 
on  account  of  chest-symptoms  accompanying  his  scor- 
butic troubles.  On  the  4th,  Thomas  Hickey  also  gave 
in,  although  not  quite  disabled  for  labor  at  the  track- 
lines. 

"  Perhaps  we  would  still  have  got  on ;  but,  to  crown 
all,  we  found  that  the  bears  had  eifected  an  entrance 
into  our  pemmican-casks,  and  destroyed  our  chances  of 
reinforcing  our  provisions  at  the  several  caches.  This 
great  calamity  was  certainly  inevitable ;  for  it  is  simple 
justice  to  the  officers  under  whose  charge  the  provision- 
depots  were  constructed,  to  say  that  no  means  in  their 
power  could  have  prevented  the  result.     The  pemmican 


PROSTRATION. 


f)0   I 


was  covered  with  blocks  of  stone  which  it  had  required 
the  labor  of  three  men  to  adjust;  but  the  extraordi- 
nary strength  of  the  bear  had  enabled  him  to  force 
aside  the  heaviest  rocks,  and  his  pawing  had  broken 
the  iron  casks  which  held  our  pemmican  literally  into 
chips.  Our  alcohol-cask,  which  it  had  cost  me  a  sepa- 
rate and  special  journey  in  the  late  fall  to  deposit,  was 
so  completely  destroyed  that  we  could  not  find  a  stave 
of  it. 


APPROACHING     DALLAS     EAY. 


"  Off  Cape  James  Kent,  about  eight  miles  from  '  Sunny 
Gorge,'  while  taking  an  observation  for  latitude,  I  was 
m^^self  seized  with  a  sudden  pain  and  fainted.  My 
limbs  became  rigid,  and  certain  obscure  tetanoid  symp- 
toms of  our  late  winter's  enemy  disclosed  themselves. 
In  this  condition  I  was  unable  to  make  more  than  nine 
miles  a  day.  I  was  strapped  upon  the  sledge,  and  the 
march  continued  as  usual;  but  my  powers  diminished 
so  rapidly  that  I  could  not  resist  even  the  otherwise 
comfortable  temperature  of  5°  below  zero.  My  left  foot 
becoming  frozen  up  to  the  metatarsal  joint,  caused  a 


loA  DALLAS      BAY, 

vexatious  delay;  and  the  same  night  it  became  evident 
that  the  immovabihty  of  my  hmbs  was  due  to  drop- 
sical effusion. 

"On  the  5th,  becoming  delirious,  and  fainting  every 
time  that  I  was  taken  from  the  tent  to  the  sledge,  I 
succumbed  entirely.  I  append  the  report  of  our  sur- 
geon made  uj^on  my  return.  This  will  best  exhibit  the 
diseased  condition  of  myself  and  party,  and  explain,  in 
stronger  terms  than  I  can  allow  myself  to  use,  the 
extent  of  my  efforts  to  contend  against  it.^"^*'^ 

"My  comrades  would  kindly  persuade  me  that,  even 
had  I  continued  sound,  w^e  could  not  have  proceeded 
on  our  journey.  The  snows  were  very  heavy,  and 
increasing  as  we  w^ent;  some  of  the  drifts  perfectly 
impassable,  and  the  level  floes  often  four  feet  deep  in 
yielding  snow.  The  scurvy  had  already  broken  out 
among  the  men,  with  symptoms  like  my  own;  and 
Morton,  our  strongest  man,  was  beginning  to  give  way. 
It  is  the  reverse  of  comfort  to  me  that  they  shared  my 
weakness.  All  that  I  should  remember  with  pleasu- 
rable feeling  is,  that  to  five  brave  men,  Morton,  Riley, 
Hickey,  Stephenson,  and  Hans,  themselves  scarcely 
able  to  travel,  I  owe  my  preservation.  They  carried 
me  back  by  forced  marches,  after  cacheing  our  stores 
and  India-rubber  boat  near  Dallas  Bay,  in  lat.  79°. 5, 
Ion.  6G°. 

"I  was  taken  into  the  brig  on  the  14th.  Since  then, 
fluctuating  between  life  and  death,  I  have  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God  reached  the  present  date,  and  see  feebly 
in  prospect  my  recovery.     Dr.  Hayes  regards  my  attack 


DEATH     OF      SCHUBERT.  233 


as  one  of  sciirvy,  complicated  by  typhoid  fever.  George 
Stephenson  is  similarly  affected.  Our  worst  symptoms 
are  dropsical  effusion  and  night-sweats. 

"May  22,  Monday. — Let  me,  if  I  can,  make  up  my 
record  for  the  time  I  have  been  away  or  on  my  back. 

"Poor  Schubert  is  gone.  Our  gallant  merry-hearted 
companion  left  us  some  ten  days  ago,  for,  I  trust,  a 
more  genial  world.  It  is  sad,  in  this  dreary  little 
homestead  of  ours,  to  miss  his  contented  face  and  the 
joyous  troll  of  his  ballads. 

"  The  health  of  the  rest  has,  if  any  thing,  improved. 
Their  complexions  show  the  influence  of  sunlight,  and 
I  think  several  have  a  firmer  and  more  elastic  step. 
Stephenson  and  Thomas  are  the  only  two  beside  my- 
self who  are  likely  to  suffer  permanently  from  the 
effects  of  our  break-down.  Bad  scurvy  both :  symptoms 
still  serious. 

"Before  setting  out  a  month  ago,  on  a  journey  that 
should  have  extended  into  the  middle  of  June,  I  had 
broken  up  the  establishment  of  Butler  Island,  and 
placed  all  the  stores  around  the  brig  upon  the  heavy 
ice.  My  object  in  this  was  a  double  one.  First,  to  re- 
move from  the  Esquimaux  the  temptation  and  ability 
to  pilfer.  Second,  to  deposit  our  cargo  where  it  could 
be  re-stowed  by  very  few  men,  if  any  unforeseen  change 
in  the  ice  made  it  necessary.  Mr.  Ohlsen,  to  whose 
charge  the  brig  was  committed,  had  orders  to  stow  the 
hold  slowly,  remove  the  forward  housing,  and  fit  up 
the  forecastle  for  the  men  to  inhabit  it  again. 

"All  of  theso  he   carried  out  with  judgment   and 


234 


THE      B  K  I  G      IN      JI  A  Y. 


energy,  I  find  upon  my  return  the  brig  so  stowed  and 
refitted  that  four  days  would  prepare  us  for  sea.  The 
quarter-deck  alone  is  now  boarded  in;  and  here  all  the 
officers  and  sick  are  sojourning.  The  wind  makes  this 
wooden  shanty  a  somewhat  airy  retreat;  but,  for  the 


-^5^'^rM\» 


THE       BRIG       IN       MAY. 


health  of  our  maimed  scorbutic  men,  it  is  infinitely 
preferable  to  the  less-ventilated  quarters  below.  Some 
of  the  crew,  with  one  stove,  are  still  in  the  forecastle; 
but  the  old  cabin  is  deserted. 

"  I  left  Hans  as  hunter.  I  gave  him  a  regular  ex- 
emption from  all  other  labor,  and  a  promised  present  to 
his  lady-love  on  reaching  Fiskernaes.     He  signalized  his 


PROGRESS     OF      SPRING.      *  235 


promotion  by  shooting  two  deer,  Tulchuh,  the  first  yet 
shot.  We  have  now  on  hand  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  pounds  of  fine  venison,  a  very  gift  of  grace  to  our 
diseased  crew.  But,  indeed,  we  are  not  likely  to  want 
for  wholesome  food,  now  that  the  night  is  gone,  which 
made  our  need  of  it  so  pressing.  On  the  first  of  May, 
those  charming  little  migrants  the  snow-birds,  ultima 
coelicolum,  which  only  left  us  on  the  4th  of  November, 
returned  to  our  ice-crusted  rocks,  whence  they  seem  to 
'fill  the  sea  and  air  w^ith  their  sweet  jargoning.'  Seal 
literally  abound  too.  I  have  learned  to  prefer  this  flesh 
to  the  reindeer's,  at  least  that  of  the  female  seal,  which 
has  not  the  fetor  of  her  mate's. 

"By  the  12th,  the  sides  of  the  Advance  were  free 
from  snow,  and  her  rigging  clean  and  dry.  The  floe  is 
rapidly  undergoing  its  wonderful  processes  of  decay; 
and  the  level  ice  measures  but  six  feet  in  thickness. 
To-day  they  report  a  burgomaster  gull  seen :  one  of  the 
earliest  but  surest  indications  of  returning  open  water. 
It  is  not  strange,  ice-leaguered  exiles  as  we  are,  that 
we  observe  and  exult  in  these  things.  They  are  the 
pledges  of  renewed  life,  the  olive-branch  of  this  dreary 
waste :  we  feel  the  spring  in  all  our  pulses. 

"  The  first  thing  I  did  after  my  return  was  to  send 
McGary  to  Life-boat  Cove,  to  see  that  our  boat  and  its 
buried  provisions  were  secure.  He  made  the  journey 
by  dog-sledge  in  four  days,  and  has  returned  reporting 
that  all  is  safe :  an  important  help  for  us,  should 
this  heavy  ice  of  our  more  northern  prison  refuse  to 
release  us. 


236  mcgary's    return. 


"But  the  pleasantest  feature  of  his  joume}'-  was  the 
disclosure  of  open  water,  extending  up  in  a  sort  of 
tongue,  Avith  a  trend  of  north  by  east  to  within  two 
miles  of  Refuge  Harbor,  and  there  widening  as  it  ex- 
panded to  the  south  and  west, 

"Indeed,  some  circumstances  which  he  reports  seem 
to  point  to  the  existence  of  a  north  water  all  the  year 
round;  and  the  frequent  water-skies,  fogs,  &c.,  that  we 
have  seen  to  the  southwest  during  the  winter,  go  to 
confirm  the  fact.  The  breaking  up  of  the  Smith  Strait's 
ice  commences  much  earlier  than  this;  but  as  yet  it 
has  not  extended  farther  than  Littleton  Island,  where 
I  should  have  wintered  if  my  fall  journey  had  not 
pointed  to  the  policy  of  remaining  here.  The  oj)en 
water  undoubtedly  has  been  the  cause  of  the  retreat  of 
the  Esquimaux.  Their  sledge-tracks  have  been  seen 
all  along  the  land-foot;  but,  except  a  snow  house  at 
Esquimaux  Point,  we  have  met  nothing  which  to  the 
uninitiated  traveller  would  indicate  that  they  had 
rested  upon  this  desert  coast. 

"As  soon  as  I  had  recovered  enough  to  be  aware  of 
my  failure,  I  began  to  devise  means  for  remedying  it. 
But  I  found  the  resources  of  the  party  shattered. 
Pierre  had  died  but  a  week  before,  and  his  death  ex- 
erted an  unfavorable  influence.  There  were  only  three 
men  able  to  do  duty.  Of  the  officers,  Wilson,  Brooks, 
Sontag,  and  Petersen  were  knocked  up.  There  was  no 
one  except  Sontag,  Hayes,  or  myself,  who  was  qualified 
to  conduct  a  survey ;  and,  of  us  three.  Dr.  Hayes  was 
the  only  one  on  his  feet. 


DR.     HAYES'S      PARTY.  23' 


"  The  quarter  to  which  our  remaining  observations 
were  to  be  directed  lay  to  the  north  and  east  of  the 
Cape  Sabine  of  Captain  Inglefield,  The  interruption 
our  progress  along  the  coast  of  Greenland  had  met  from 
the  Great  Glacier,  and  the  destruction  of  our  provision- 
caches  by  the  bears,  left  a  blank  for  us  of  the  entire 
northern  coast-line.  It  was  necessary  to  ascertain 
whether  the  farthermost  expansion  of  Smith's  Strait 
did  not  find  an  outlet  in  still  more  remote  channels ; 
and  this  became  our  duty  the  more  plainly,  since  our 
theodolite  had  shown  us  that  the  northern  coast  trended 
off  to  the  eastward,  and  not  toward  the  west,  as  our 
predecessor  had  supposed.  The  angular  difference  of 
sixty  degrees  between  its  bearings  on  his  charts  and 
our  own  left  me  completely  in  the  dark  as  to  what 
might  be  the  condition  of  this  unknown  area. 

"I  determined  to  trust  almost  entirely  to  the  dogs 
for  our  travel  in  the  future,  and  to  send  our  parties  of 
exploration,  one  after  the  other,  as  rapidly  as  the 
strength  and  refreshing  of  our  team  would  permit. 

"Dr.  Hayes  was  selected  for  that  purpose;  and  I 
satisfied  myself  that,  with  a  little  assistance  from  my 
comrades,  I  could  be  carried  round  to  the  cots  of  the 
sick,  and  so  avail  myself  of  his  services  in  the  field. 

"  He  was  a  perfectly  fresh  man,  not  having  yet  un- 
dertaken a  journey.  I  gave  him  a  team  and  my  best 
driver,  William  Godfrey.  He  is  to  cross  Smith's  Straits 
above  the  inlet,  and  make  as  near  as  may  be  a  straight 
course  for  Cape  Sabine.  My  opinion  is  that  by  keep- 
ing well  south  he  will  find  the  ice  less  clogged  and 


238  EQUIPMENT. 


easier  sledging.  Our  experience  proves,  I  think,  that 
the  transit  of  this  broken  area  must  be  most  impeded 
as  we  approach  the  glacier.  The  immense  discharge 
of  icebergs  cannot  fail  to  break  it  up  seriously  for 
travel.  .  '" 

"  I  gave  him  the  small  sledge  which  was  built  by  Mr. 
Ohlsen.  The  snow  was  sufficiently  thawed  to  make  it 
almost  unnecessary  to  use  fire  as  a  means  of  obtaining 
water:   they  could  therefore  dispense  with   tallow  or 


THE       TEAM. 


alcohol,  and  were  able  to  carry  pemmican  in  larger 
quantities.  Their  sleeping-bags  were  a  very  neat  arti- 
cle of  a  light  reindeer-skin.  The  dogs  were  in  excel- 
lent condition  too,  no  longer  foot-sore,  but  well  rested 
and  completely  broken,  including  the  four  from  the 
Esquimaux,  animals  of  great  power  and  size.  Two 
of  these,  the  stylish  leaders  of  the  team,  a  span  of 
thoroughly  wolfish  iron-grays,  have  the  most  powerful 
and  wild-beast/-like  bound  that  I  have  seen  in  animals 
of  their  kind. 


PROGRESS     OF     SPRING.  239 


"I  made  u]d  the  orders  of  the  party  on  the  19th,  the 
first  day  that  I  was  able  to  mature  a  plan;  and  with 
commendable  zeal  they  left  the  brig  on  the  20th. 

"May  23,  Tuesday. — They  have  had  superb  weather, 
thank  heaven! — a  profusion  of  the  most  genial  sun- 
shine, bringing  out  the  seals  in  crowds  to  bask  around 
their  breathing-holes.  A  ptarmigan  was  killed  to-day, 
a  male,  with  but  two  brown  feathers  on  the  back  of 
his  little  neck  to  indicate  the  return  of  his  summer- 
plumage. 

"  The  winter  is  gone !  The  Andromeda  has  been 
found  on  shore  under  the  snow,  with  tops  vegetating 
and  green !     I  have  a  shoot  of  it  in  my  hand. 

"May  25,  Thursday. — Bands  of  soft  mist  hide  the 
tops  of  the  hills:  the  unbroken  transparency  of  last 
month's  atmosphere  has  disappeared,  and  the  sky  has 
all  the  ashen  or  joearly  obscurity  of  the  Arctic  summer. 

"May  26,  Friday. — I  get  little  done;  but  I  have  too 
much  to  attend  to  in  my  weak  state  to  journalize. 
Thermometer  above  freezing-point,  without  the  sun  to- 
day/ 

"  May  27,  Saturday. — Every  thing  showing  that  the 
summer  changes  have  commenced.  The  ice  is  ra^^idly 
losing  its  integrity,  and  a  melting  snow  has  fallen  for 
the  last  two  days, —  one  of  those  comforting  home- 
snows  that  we  have  not  seen  for  so  long. 

"  May  28,  Sunday. — Our  day  of  rest  and  devotion. 
It  was  a  fortnight  ago  last  Friday  since  our  poor 
friend  Pierre  died.  For  nearly  two  months  he  had 
been  struggling  against  the  enemy  with  a  resolute  will 


240 


SCHUBERT    S     FUNERAL. 


and  mirthful  spirit,  that  seemed  sure  of  victory.     But 
he  sunk  in  spite  of  them. 

"  The  last  offices  were  rendered  to  him  with  the 
same  careful  ceremonial  that  we  observed  at  Baker's 
funeral.  There  were  fewer  to  walk  in  the  procession ; 
but  the  body  was  encased  in  a  decent  pine  coff.n  and 
carried  to  Observatory  Island,  where  it  was  placed  side- 
by-side  with  that  of  his  messmate.  Neither  could  yet 
be  buried;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the 
frost  has  embalmed  their  remains.  Dr.  Hayes  read 
the  chapter  from  Job  which  has  consigned  so  many  to 
their  last  resting-place,  and  a  little  snow  was  sprinkled 
upon  the  face  of  the  coffin.  Pierre  was  a  volunteer 
not  only  of  our  general  expedition,  but  of  the  party 
with  which  he  met  his  death-blow.  He  was  a  gallant 
man,  a  universal  favorite  on  board,  always  singing 
sonie  Beranger  ballad  or  other,  and  so  elastic  in  his 
merriment  that  even  in  his  last  sickness  he  cheered 
all  that  were  about  him." 


^  CHAPTER   XX. 

REAL-HUNTING SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN — RESOURCES — ACCLIMATIZA- 
TION— THE  HOPE — DR.  HAYES'S  RETURN — HIS  JOURNEY — SNOW- 
BLINDNESS — CAPE    HAYES — THE    DOGS    TANGLED — MENDING    THE 

HARNESS — ;CAPES    LEIDY    AND    FRAZER DOBBIN    BAY FLETCHER 

WEBSTER    HEADLAND PETER    FORCE    BAY NEW   PARTIES THEIR 

ORDERS  —  PROGRESS   OF    SEASON  —  THE    SEAL  —  THE    NETSIK    AND 
USUK — A   BEAR — OUR   ENCOUNTER — CHANGE   IN   THE   FLOE. 

^'May  30,  Tuesday. — We  are  gleaning  fresh  water 
from  the  rocks,  and  the  icebergs  begin  to  show  com- 
mencing streamlets.  The  great  floe  is  no  longer  a 
Sahara,  if  still  a  desert.  The  floes  are  wet,  and  their 
snows  dissolve  readily  under  the  warmth  of  the  foot, 
and  the  old  floe  begins  to  shed  fresh  water  into  its 
hollows.  Puddles  of  salt  water  collect  around  the 
ice-foot.  It  is  now  hardly  recognizable, — rounded, 
sunken,  broken  up  with  Avater-pools  overflowing  its 
base.  Its  diminished  crusts  are  so  percolated  by  the 
saline  tides,  that  neither  tables  nor  broken  fragments 
unite  any  longer  by  freezing.  It  is  lessening  so  rapidly 
that  we   do  not  fear  it  any  longer  as  an  enemy  to 

Vol.  T.— 16  241 


OztO 


SE  AL-IIUNTING. 


the  brig.  The  berg  indeed  vanished  long  before  the 
sun-thermometers  indicated  a  noon-temperature  above 
32°. 

"  The  changes  of  this  ice  at  temperatures  far  below 
the  freezing-point  confirm  the  views  I  formed  upon  my 
Last  cruise  as  to  the  limited  influence  of  direct  thaw. 
I  am  convinced  that  the  expansion  of  the  ice  after  the 
contraction  of  low  temperatures,  and  the  infiltrative 
or  endosmometric  changes  thus  induced, — the  differing 
temperatures  of  sea-water  and  ice,  and  their  chemical 
relations, — the  mechanical  action  of  pressure,  collapse, 
fracture,  and  disruption, — the  effects  of  sun-heated 
snow-surfaces,  fjills  of  warm  snow,  currents,  wind, 
drifts,  and  wave-action, —  all  these  leave  the  great 
mass  of  the  Polar  ice-surfaces  so  broken,  disintegrated, 
and  reduced,  when  the  extreme  cold  abates,  and  so 
changed  in  structure  and  molecular  character,  that 
the  few  weeks  of  summer  thaw  have  but  a  subsidiary 
office  to  perform  in  completing  their  destruction. 

''  Seal  of  the  Hispid  variety, 
the  Netsik  of  the  Esquimaux  and 
Danes,  grow  still  more  numerous 
on  the  level  floes,  lying  cautiously 
in  the  sun  beside  their  atluhsS^'^ 
By  means  of  the  Esquimaux  stra- 
tagem of  a  white  screen  pushed 
forward  on  a  sledge  until  the 
SEAL  SCREEN.  conccalcd    hunter    comes   within 

range,    Hans    has    shot    four   of 
them.     We  have  more  fresh  meat  than  we  can  eat. 


SIR     JOHN"     FRANKLIN". 


243 


For  the  past  three  weeks  we  have  been  living  on  pttir- 
migan,  rabbits,  two  reindeer,  and  seal. 


SHOOTING      SEAL. 


"  They  are  fast  curing  our  scurvy.  With  all  thes? 
resources, — coming  to  our  relief  so  suddenly  too, — hov/ 
can  my  thoughts  turn  despairingly  to  poor  Franklin 
and  his  crew  ? 

"  ....  Can  they  have  survived  ?  No  man  can 
answer  with  certainty ;  but  no  man  without  presump- 
tion can  answer  in  the  negative. 

"If,  four  months  ago, — surrounded  Ijy  darkness  and 
bowed  down  by  disease, — I  had  been  asked  the  ques- 
tion, I  would  have  turned  toward  the  Ijlack  hills  and 
the  frozen  sea,  and  responded  in  sympathy  with  them. 
'  No.'  But  with  the  return  of  light  a  savage  people 
come  down  upon  us,  destitute  of  any  Ijut  the  rudest 


244  RESOURCES. 


appliances  of  the  chase,  Avho  were  fattening  on  the 
most  wholesome  diet  of  the  region,  only  forty  miles 
from  our  anchorage,  while  I  was  denouncing  its 
scarcity. 

"  For  Franklin,  every  thing  dej)ends  upon  locality  : 
but,  from  what  I  can  see  of  Arctic  exploration  thus 
far,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  circle  of  fifty  miles' 
diameter  entirely  destitute  of  animal  resources.  The 
most  solid  winter-ice  is  open  here  and  there  in  pools 
and  patches  worn  by  currents  and  tides.  Such  were 
the  open  spaces  that  Parry  found  in  Wellington  Chan- 
nel ;  such  are  the  stream-holes  (stromhols)  of  the 
Greenland  coast,  the  polynia  of  the  Russians ;  and 
such  we  have  ourselves  found  in  the  most  rigorous 
cold  of  all. 

"  To  these  spots,  the  seal,  walrus,  and  the  early 
birds  crowd  in  numbers.  One  which  kept  open,  as 
we  find  from  the  Esquimaux,  at  Littleton  Island, 
only  forty  miles  from  us,  sustained  three  families  last 
winter  until  the  opening  of  the  north  Avater.  Now, 
if  we  have  been  entirely  supported  for  the  past  three 
weeks  by  the  hunting  of  a  single  man, —  seal-meat 
alone  being  plentiful  enough  to  subsist  us  till  we 
turn  homeward, — certainly  a  -party  of  tolerably  skilful 
hunters  might  lay  up  an  abundant  stock  for  the  win- 
ter. As  it  is,  we  are  making  caches  of  meat  under 
the  snow,  to  prevent  its  spoiling  on  our  hands,  in  the 
very  spot  which  a  few  days  ago  I  described  as  a  Sa- 
hara. And,  indeed,  it  was  so  for  nine  whole  months, 
when  this  flood  of  animal  life  burst  upon  us  like  foun- 


ACCLIMATIZATION.  245 


tains  of  water  and  pastures  and  date-trees  in  a  south- 
ern desert. 

"  I  have  undergone  one  change  in  opinion.  It  is  of 
the  ability  of  Europeans  or  Americans  to  inure  them- 
selves to  an  ultra- Arctic  climate.  God  forbid,  indeed, 
that  civilized  man  should  be  exposed  for  successive 
years  to  this  blighting  darkness !  But  around  the 
Arctic  circle,  even  as  high  as  72°,  where  cold  and 
cold  only  is  to  be  encountered,  men  may  be  acclimar 
tized,  for  there  is  light  enough  for  out-door  labor. 

"Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  picked  men  of 
Sir  John  Franklin  in  1846,  Northern  Orkney  men, 
Greenland  whalers,  so  many  young  and  hardy  constitu- 
tions, with  so  much  intelligent  experience  to  guide 
them,  I  cannot  realize  that  some  may  not  yet  be  alive ; 
that  some  small  squad  or  squads,  aided  or  not  aided  by 
the  Esquimaux  of  the  expedition,  may  not  have  found 
a  hunting-ground,  and  laid  up  from  summer  to  summer 
enough  of  fuel  and  food  and  seal-skins  to  brave  three 
or  even  four  more  winters  in  succession. 

"I  speak  of  the  miracle  of  this  bountiful  fair  season. 
I  could  hardly  have  been  much  more  surprised  if  these 
black  rocks,  instead  of  sending  out  upon  our  solitude 
the  late  inroad  of  yelling  Esquimaux,  had  sent  us  na- 
turalized Saxons.  Two  of  our  party  at  first  fancied 
they  were  such. 

"  The  mysterious  compensations  by  which  we  adapt 
ourselves  to  climate  are  more  striking  here  than  in  the 
tropics.  In  the  Polar  zone  the  assault  is  immediate 
and  sudden,  and,  unlike  the  insidious  fatality  of  hot 


246  GROUNDS     OF     HOPE. 


countries,  produces  its  results  rapidly.  It  requires 
hardly  a  single  winter  to  tell  who  are  to  be  the  heat- 
making  and  acclimatized  men.  Petersen,  for  instance, 
who  has  resided  for  two  years  at  Upernavik,  seldom 
enters  a  room  with  a  fire.  Another  of  our  party,  George 
Riley,  with  a  vigorous  constitution,  established  habits 
of  free  exposure,  and  active  cheerful  temperament,  has 
so  inured  himself  to  the  cold,  that  he  sleeps  on  our 
sledge-journeys  without  a  blanket  or  any  other  covering 
than  his  walking-suit,  while  the  outside  temperature  is 
30°  below  zero.  The  half-breeds  of  the  coast  rival  the 
Esquimaux  in  their  powers  of  endurance. 

*■'  There  must  be  many  such  men  with  Franklin.  The 
North  British  sailors  of  the  Greenland  seal  and  whale 
fisheries  I  look  upon  as  inferior  to  none  in  capacity  to 
resist  the  Arctic  climates. 

"  My  mind  never  realizes  the  complete  catastrophe, 
the  destruction  of  all  Franklin's  crews.  I  picture  them 
to  myself  broken  into  detachments,  and  my  mind  fixes 
itself  on  one  little  group  of  some  thirty,  who  have  found 
the  open  spot  of  some  tidal  eddy,  and  under  the  teach- 
ings of  an  Esquimaux  or  perhaps  one  of  their  own 
Greenland  whalers,  have  set  bravely  to  work,  and 
trapped  the  fox,  speared  the  bear,  and  killed  the  seal 
and  walrus  and  whale.  I  think  of  them  ever  with 
hope.     I  sicken  not  to  be  able  to  reach  them. 

"It  is  a  year  ago  to-day  since  we  left  New  York.  I 
am  not  as  sanguine  as  I  was  then :  time  and  experience 
have  chastened  me.  There  is  every  thing  about  me  to 
check  enthusiasm  and  moderate  hope.     I  am  here  in 


DR.     HAYES' S      RETURN.  247 


forced  inaction,  a  broken-down  man,  oppressed  by  cares, 
with  many  dangers  before  me,  and  still  under  the  sha- 
dow of  a  hard  wearing  winter,  which  has  crushed  two 
of  my  best  associates.  Here  on  the  spot,  after  two 
unavailing  expeditions  of  search,  I  hold  my  oj)inions 
unchanged;  and  I  record  them  as  a  matter  of  duty 
upon  a  manuscript  which  may  speak  the  truth  when  I 
can  do  so  no  longer. 

"June  1,  Thursday. — At  ten  o'clock  this  morning 
the  wail  of  the  dogs  outside  announced  the  return  of 
Dr.  Hayes  and  William  Godfrey.  Both  of  them  were 
completely  snow-blind,  and  the  doctor  had  to  be  led  to 
my  bedside  to  make  his  report.  In  fact,  so  exhausted 
was  he,  that  in  spite  of  my  anxiety  I  forbore  to  question 
him  until  he  had  rested.  I  venture  to  say,  that  both 
he  and  his  companion  well  remember  their  astonishing 
performance  over  stewed  apples  and  seal-meat. 

"  The  dogs  were  not  so  foot-sore  as  might  have  been 
expected;  but  two  of  them,  including  poor  little 
'Jenny,'  were  completely  knocked  up.  All  attention 
was  bestowed  upon  these  indispensable  essentials  of 
Arctic  seaich,  and  soon  they  were  more  happy  than 
their  masters." 

Dr.  Hayes  made  a  due  north  line  on  leaving  the  brig; 
but,  encountering  the  "squeezed  ices"  of  my  own  party 
in  March,  he  wisely  worked  to  the  eastward.  I  had 
advised  him  to  descend  to  Smith's  Sound,  under  a  con- 
viction that  the  icebergs  there  would  be  less  numerous, 


248  HIS     JOURXEY. 


and  that  the  diminished  distance  from  land  to  land 
would  make  his  transit  more  easy.  But  he  managed 
to  effect  the  object  by  a  less  circuitous  route  than  I  had 
anticipated ;  for,  although  he  made  but  fifteen  miles  on 
the  20th,  he  emerged  the  next  day  from  the  heavy  ice, 
and  made  at  least  fifty.  On  this  day  his  meridian  ob- 
servation gave  the  latitude  of  79°  8'  6",  and  from  a 
large  berg  he  sighted  many  points  of  the  coast. 

On  the  22d,  he  encountere  a  wall  of  hummocks, 
exceeding  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  extending  in  a 
long  line  to  the  northeast. 

After  vain  attempts  to  force  them,  becoming  em- 
barrassed in  fragmentajry  ice,  worn,  to  use  his  own 
words,  into  "deep  pits  and  valleys,"  he  was  obliged  to 
camp,  surrounded  by  masses  of  the  wildest  character, 
some  of  them  thirty  feet  in  height. 

The  next  three  days  were  spent  in  struggles  through 
this  broken  plain;  fogs  sometimes  embarrassed  them, 
but  at  intervals  land  could  be  seen  to  the  northwest. 
On  the  27th,  they  reached  the  north  side  of  the  bay, 
passing  over  but  few  miles  of  new  and  unbroken  floe. 

The  excessively  broken  and  rugged  character  of  this 
ice  they  had  encountered  must  be  due  to  the  discharges 
from  the  Great  Glacier  of  Humboldt,  which  arrest  the 
floes  and  make  them  liable  to  excessive  disruption 
under  the  influence  of  winds  and  currents. 

Dr.  Hayes  told  me,  that  in  many  places  they  could 
not  have  advanced  a  stej)  but  for  the  dogs.  Deej) 
cavities  filled  with  snow  intervened  between  lines  of 
ice-barricades,  making  their  travel  as  slow  and  tedious 


SNOW-BLINDNESS. 


249 


as  the  same  obstructions  had  done  to  the  party  of  poor 
Brooks  before  their  eventful  rescue  last  March. 

Their  course  was  now  extremely  tortuous;  for,  al- 
though from  the  headlands  of  Rensselaer  Harbor  to  the 
point  which  they  first  reached  on  the  northern  coast 


DOGS     AMONG      BERGS. 


was  not  more  than  ninety  miles  as  the  crow  flies, 
yet  by  the  dead  reckoning  of  the  party  they  must 
have  had  an  actual  travel  of  two  hundred  and  seventy. 
For  the  details  of  this  passage  I  refer  the  reader  to 
the  appe^xded  report  of  Dr.  Hayes.  His  gravest  and 
most  insurmountable  difficulty  was  snow-blindness, 
which  so  affected  him  that  for  some  time  he  was  not 


250  CAPE     HAYES. 


able  to  use  the  sextant.  His  journal-entry  referring 
to  the  23d,  while  tangled  in  the  ice,  says,  "I  was  so 
snow-blind  that  I  could  not  see ;  and  as  riding,  owing 
to  the  jaded  condition  of  the  dogs,  was  seldom  possible, 
we  were  obliged  to  lay  to." 

It  was  not  until  the  25th  that  their  eyesight  was 
sufficiently  restored  to  enable  them  to  push  on.  In 
these  devious  and  untrodden  ice-fields,  even  the  in- 
stinct of  the  dogs  would  have  been  of  little  avail  to 
direct  their  course.  It  was  well  for  the  party  that 
during  this  compulsory  halt  the  temperatures  were 
mild  and  endurable.  From  their  station  of  the  25th, 
they  obtained  reliable  sights  of  the  coast,  trending  to 
the  northward  and  eastward,  and  a  reliable  determina- 
tion of  latitude,  in  79°  24'  4".  A  fine  headland,  bear- 
ing nearly  due  northwest,  I  named  Cape  Hayes,  in 
commemoration  of  the  gentleman  who  discovered  it. 

Instead,  however,  of  making  for  the  land,  which 
could  not  have  aided  their  surve}^,  they  followed  the 
outer  ice,  at  the  same  time  edging  in  toward  a  lofty 
bluff  whose  position  they  had  determined  by  inter- 
section. They  hoped  here  to  effect  a  landing,  but  en- 
countered a  fresh  zone  of  broken  ice  in  the  attempt. 
The  hummocks  could  not  be  turned.  The  sledge  had 
to  be  lifted  over  them  by  main  strength,  and  it  required 
the  most  painful  efforts  of  the  whole  party  to  liberate 
it  from  the  snow  between  them. 

On  the  26th,  disasters  accumulated.  WiUiam  God- 
frey, one  of  the  sturdiest  travellers,  broke  down ;  and 


TUE     DOGS      TANGLED. 


251 


the  dogs,  the  indispensable  reliance  of  the  part}^,  were 
in  bad  working  trim.  The  rude  harness,  always  apt 
to  become  tangled  and  broken,  had  been  mended  so 
often  and  with  such  imperfect  means  as  to  be  scarcely- 
serviceable. 


CAPE       HAYES 


This  evil  would  seem  the  annoyance  of  an  hour  to 
the  travellers  in  a  stage-coach,  but  to  a  sledge-party 
on  the  ice-waste  it  is  the  gravest  that  can  be  con- 
ceived. The  Esquimaux  dog,  as  I  before  mentioned, 
is  driven  by  a  single  trace,  a  long  thin  thong  of  seal 
or  walrus-liide,  which  passes  from  his  chest  over  his 
haunches  to  the  sledge.  The  team  is  alwa3^s  driven 
abreast,   and   the   traces   are  of  course   tangling  and 


252  MENDING     THE     HARNESS. 


twisting  themselves  up  incessantly,  as  the  half-wild 
or  terrified  brutes  bound  right  or  left  from  their  pre- 
scribed positions.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  seven 
or  nine  or  fourteen  lines  have  a  marvellous  aptitude  at 
knotting  themselves  up  beyond  the  reach  of  skill  and 
patience.  If  the  weather  is  warm  enough  to  thaw  the 
snow,  they  become  utterly  soft  and  flaccid,  and  the 
naked  hand,  if  applied  ingeniously,  may  dispense  with 
a  resort  to  the  Gordian  process.  But  in  the  severe 
cold,  such  as  I  experienced  in  my  winter  journeys  of 
1854,  the  knife  is  often  the  only  ajDpliance;  an  unsafe 
one  if  invoked  too  often,  for  every  new  attachment 
shortens  your  harness,  and  you  may  end  by  drawing 
your  dogs  so  close  that  they  cannot  pull.  I  have  been 
obliged  to  halt  and  camp  on  the  open  floe,  till  I  could 
renew  enough  of  warmth  and  energy  and  patience  to 
disentangle  the  knots  of  my  harness.  Oh,  how  cha- 
ritabl}^  have  I  remembered  Doctor  Slop ! 

It  was  only  after  appropriating  an  undue  share  of 
his  seal-skin  breeches  that  the  leader  of  the  party  suc- 
ceeded in  patching  up  his  mutilated  dog-lines.  He 
was  rewarded,  however,  for  he  shortly  after  found  an 
old  floe,  over  which  his  sledge  passed  happily  to  the 
north  coast.  It  was  the  first  time  that  any  of  our 
parties  had  succeeded  in  penetrating  the  area  to  the 
lorth.  The  ice  had  baffled  three  organized  foot- 
parties.  It  could  certainly  never  have  been  traversed 
without  the  aid  of  dogs ;  but  it  is  equally  certain  that 
the  effort  must  again  have  failed,  even  with  their  aid, 
but  for  the  energy  and  determination  of  Dr.  Hayes, 


CAPES     LEIDY     AND     ERA  ZEE.  ZOO 


and  the  endurance  of  his  partner,  William  Godfrey. 
The  latitude  by  observation  was  79°  45'  N.,  the  longi- 
tude G9°  12'  W.  The  coast  here  trended  more  to  the 
westward  than  it  had  done.  It  was  sighted  for  thirty 
miles  to  the  northward  and  eastward.  This  was  the 
culminating  point  of  his  survey,  beyond  which  his 
observations  did  not  extend.  Two  large  headlands, 
Capes  Joseph  Leidy  and  John  Frazer,  indicate  it. 

The  cliffs  were  of  mingled  limestone  and  sandstone, 
corresponding  to  those  on  the  southern  side  of  Peabody 
Bay.  To  the  north  they  exceeded  two  thousand  feet 
in  height,  while  to  the  southward  they  diminished  to 
twelve  hundred.  The  ice-foot  varied  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width,  and  stood  out  against 
the  dark  debris  thrown  down  by  the  cliffs  in  a  clean 
naked  shelf  of  dazzling  white. 

The  party  spent  the  28tli  in  mending  the  sledge, 
which  was  completely  broken,  and  feeding  up  their 
dogs  for  a  renewal  of  the  journey.  But,  their  pro- 
visions being  limited,  Dr.  Hayes  did  not  deem  him- 
self justified  in  continuing  to  the  north.  He  deter- 
mined to  follow  and  survey  the  coast  toward  Cape 
Sabine. 

His  pemmican  was  reduced  to  eighteen  pounds; 
there  was  apparently  no  hope  of  deriving  resources 
from  the  hunt ;  and  the  coasts  were  even  more  covered 
with  snow  than  those  he  had  left  on  the  southern  side. 
His  return  Avas  a  thing  of  necessity. 

The  course  of  the  party  to  the  westward  along  the 
land-ice  was  interrupted  by  a  large  indentation,  which 


254 


DOBBIN     BAY. 


they  had  seen  and  charted  while  approaching  the 
coast.  It  is  the  same  which  I  surveyed  in  April, 
1855,  and  which  now  bears  the  name  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  Mr.  Dobbin.  A  sketch  which  I  made  of 
it  gives  an  idea  of  the   appearance  of  the  bay  and 


DOBBIN       BAY. 


of  two  islands  which  Dr.  Hayes  discovered  near  its 
entrance.  He  saw  also  on  its  southwestern  side  a 
lofty  pyramid,  truncated  at  its  summit,  which  corre- 
sponded both  in  its  bearings  and  position  with  the 
survey  of  my  April  journey.  I  append  a  sketch  of 
this  interesting  landmark.  '  ■  '        ' 

The  latter  portion  of  Dr.  Hayes's  journey  was  full 


FLETCHER     WEBSTER     HEADLAND. 


255 


of  incident.  The  land-ice  was  travelled  for  a  wliile  at 
the  rate  of  five  or  six  miles  an  hour;  but,  after  crossing 
Dobbin  Bay,  the  snows  were  an  unexpected  impedi- 
ment, and  the  ice-foot  was  so  clogged  that  the}'  made 
but  fifteen  miles  from  camp  to  camp  on  the  floes.    After 


TLETCHER      WEBSTER      HEADLAND. 


fixing  the  position  of  Cape  Sabine,  and  connecting  it 
with  the  newly-discovered  coast-line  to  the  north  and 
east,  he  prepared  to  cross  the  bay  farther  to  the  south. 
Most  providentially  they  found  this  j^i^ssage  free 
from  bergs;  but  their  provisions  were  nearly  gone,  and 
their  dogs  were  exhausted.  They  threw  away  their 
sleeping-bags,  which  were  of  reindeer-skin  and  weighed 


256  PETER     FORCE     BAT. 


about  twelve  pounds  each,  and  abandoned  besides 
clothing  enough  to  make  up  a  reduction  in  v/eight  of 
nearly  fifty  pounds.  With  their  load  so  lightened,  they 
were  enabled  to  make  good  the  crossing  of  the  bay. 
They  landed  at  Peter  Force  Bay,  and  reached  the  brig 
on  the  1st  of  June. 

This  journey  connected  the  northern  coast  with  the 
survey  of  my  predecessor;  but  it  disclosed  no  channel 
or  any  form  of  exit  from  this  bay. 

It  con\'inced  me,  however,  that  such  a  channel  must 
exist;  for  this  great  curve  could  be  no  cul-de-sac.  Even 
were  my  observations  since  my  first  fall  journey  of 
September,  1853,  not  decisive  on  this  head,  the  general 
movement  of  the  icebergs,  the  character  of  the  tides, 
and  the  equally  sure  analogies  of  physical  geography, 
would  point  unmistakably  to  such  a  conclusion. 

To  verify  it,  I  at  once  commenced  the  organization 
of  a  double  party.  This,  which  is  called  in  my  Eeport 
the  Northeast  Party,  was  to  be  assisted  by  dogs,  but 
was  to  be  subsisted  as  far  as  the  Great  Glacier  by  pro- 
visions carried  by  a  foot-party  in  advance. 

For  the  continuation  of  my  plans  I  again  refer  to 
my  journal. 

"June  2,  Friday. — There  is  still  this  hundred  miles 
wanting  to  the  northwest  to  complete  our  entire  circuit 
of  this  frozen  water.  This  is  to  be  the  field  for  our 
next  party.  I  am  at  some  loss  how  to  organize  it;  for 
myself,  I  am  down  with  scurv}^  Dr.  Hayes  is  just 
from  the  field,  worn  out  and  snow-blind.  His  health- 
roll  makes  a  sorry  joarade.     It  runs  thus : — 


NEW      rARTIES.  257 


Officers. 

Mr.  Brooks Unhealed  stump. 

Mr.  Wilson do. 

Mr.  Sontag Down  with  scurvy 

Mr.  Bonsall Scurvy  knee,  but  mending. 

Mr.  Petersen General  scurvy. 

Mr.  Goodfellow Scurvy. 

Mr.  Oiilsen Well. 

Mr.  McGary Well. 

Crete. 

William  Morton Nearly  recovered. 

Thomas  Hickey Well. 

George  Whipple Scurvy. 

John  Blake Scurvy. 

Hans  Cristian Well. 

George  Riley Sound. 

George  Stephenson Scurvy  from  last  journey. 

William  Godfrey Snow-blind. 

"June  3,  Saturday. — McGary,  Bonsall,  Hickev,  and 
Riley  were  detailed  for  the  first  section  of  the  new 
parties :  they  will  be  accompanied  by  Morton,  who  has 
orders  to  keep  himself  as  fresh  as  possible,  so  as  to 
enter  on  his  own  line  of  search  to  the  greatest  possible 
advantage.  I  keep  Hans  a  while  to  recruit  the  dogs, 
and  do  the  hunting  and  locomotion  generally  for  the 
rest  of  us ;  but  I  shall  soon  let  him  follow,  unless  things 
grow  so  much  worse  on  board  as  to  make  it  impossible. 

"They  start  light,  with  a  large  thirteen-feet  sledge, 
arranged  with  broad  runners  on  account  of  the  snow, 
and  are  to  pursue  my  own  last  track,  feeding  at  the 
caches  wdiich  I  deposited,  and  aiming  directl}^  for  the 
glacier-barrier  on  the  Greenland  side.     Here,  sustained 

Vol.  I.— 17 


258  THEIR     ORDERS. 


as  I  hope  by  the  remnants  of  the  great  cache  of  last 
fall,  they  will  survey  and  attempt  to  scale  the  ice,  to 
look  into  the  interior  of  the  great  mer  de  glace. 

"My  notion  is,  that  the  drift  to  the  southward  both 
of  berg  and  floe,  not  being  reinforced  from  the  glacier, 
may  leave  an  interval  of  smooth  frozen  ice ;  but,  if  this 
route  should  fail,  there  ought  still  to  be  a  chance  by 
sheering  to  the  southward  and  westward  and  looking 
out  for  openings  among  the  hummocks. 

"I  am  intensely  anxious  that  this  party  should  suc- 
ceed :  it  is  my  last  throw.  They  have  all  my  views, 
and  I  believe  they  will  carry  them  out  unless  overruled 
by  a  higher  Power. 

"  Their  orders  are,  to  carry  the  sledge  forward  as  far 
as  the  base  of  the  Great  Glacier,  and  fill  up  their  ])Yo- 
visions  from  the  cache  of  my  own  party  of  last  May. 
Hans  will  then  join  them  with  the  dogs;  and,  while 
McGary  and  three  men  attempt  to  scale  and  survey 
the  glacier,  Morton  and  Hans  will  push  to  the  north 
across  the  bay  with  the  dog-sledge,  and  advance  along 
the  more  distant  coast.  Both  divisions  are  provided 
with  clampers,  to  steady  them  and  their  sledges  on  the 
irregular  ice-surfaces;  but  I  am  not  without  apprehen- 
sions that,  with  all  their  efforts,  the  glacier  cannot  be 
surmounted. 

"In  this  event,  the  main  reliance  must  be  on  Mr. 
Morton :  he  takes  with  him  a  sextant,  artificial  horizon, 
and  pocket  chronometer,  and  has  intelligence,  courage, 
and  the  spirit  of  endurance,  in  full  measure.  He  is 
withal  a  long-tried  and  trustworthy  follower. 


PROGRESS     OF     SEASON.  259 


"June  5,  Monday. — The  last  party  are  off:  tliey  left 
yesterday  at  2  p.  m.  I  can  do  nothing  more  but  await 
the  ice-changes  that  are  to  determine  for  us  our  Ulcera- 
tion or  continued  imprisonment. 

"The  sun  is  shining  bravely,  and  the  temperature 
feels  like  a  home  summer. 

"A  Sanderling,  the  second  migratory  land-bird  we 
have  seen,  came  to  our  brig  to-day,  —  and  is  now  a 
specimen. 

"June  6,  Tuesday. — We  are  a  parcel  of  sick  men, 
affecting  to  keep  ship  till  our  comrades  get  back. 
Except  Mr.  Ohlsen  and  George  Whipple,  there  is  not  a 
sound  man  among  us.  Thus  wearily  in  our  Castle  of 
Indolence,  for  'labor  dire  it  was,  and  weary  Avoe,'  we 
have  been  watching  the  changing  days,  and  noting 
bird  and  insect  and  vegetable,  as  it  tells  us  of  the 
coming  summer.  One  fly  buzzed  around  William  God- 
frey's head  to-day, — he  could  not  tell  what  the  species 
was ;  and  Mr.  Petersen  brought  in  a  cocoon  from  which 
the  grub  had  eaten  its  way  to  liberty.  Hans  gives 
us  a  seal  almost  daily,  and  for  a  passing  luxury  we 
have  ptarmigan  and  hare.  The  little  snow-birds  have 
crowded  to  Butler  Island,  and  their  songs  penetrate 
the  cracks  of  our  rude  housing.  Another  snipe  too 
was  mercilessly  shot  the  very  day  of  his  arrival. 

"  The  andromeda  shows  green  under  its  rusty  winter- 
dried  stems;  the  willows  are  sappy  and  puffing,  their 
catskins  of  last  year  dropping  off.  Draba,  lichens, 
and  stellaria,  can  be  detected  by  an  eye  accustomed  to 
this  dormant  vegetation,  and  the  stonecrops  are  reall}' 


260  THE      SEAL. 


green  and  juicy  in  their  centres:  all  this  under  the 
snow.  So  we  have  assurance  that  summer  is  coming; 
though  our  tide-hole  freezes  every  night  alongside,  and 
the  ice-floe  seems  to  be  as  fast  as  ever. 

"June  8,  Thursday. — Hans  brings  us  in  to-day  a 
couple  of  seal:  all  of  them  as  yet  are  of  the  Rough 
or  Hispid  species.  The  flesh  of  this  seal  is  eaten  uni- 
versally by  the  Danes  of  Greenland,  and  is  almost  the 
staple  diet  of  the  Esquimaux.  When  raw,  it  has  a 
flabby  look,  more  like  coagulated  blood  than  muscular 
fibre :  cooking  gives  it  a  dark  soot-color.  It  is  close- 
grained,  but  soft  and  tender,  with  a  flavor  of  lamp- 
oil— a  mere  soupgon,  however,  for  the  blubber,  when 
fresh,  is  at  this  season  sweet  and  delicious. 

"  The  seal  are  shot  lying  by  their  atluh  or  breath- 
ing-holes. As  the  season  draws  near  midsummer, 
they  are  more  approachable ;  their  eyes  being  so  con- 
gested by  the  glare  of  the  sun  that  they  are  sometimes 
nearly  blind.  Strange  to  say,  a  few  hours'  exposure 
of  a  recently-killed  animal  to  the  sun  blisters  and 
destroys  the  hide;  or,  as  the  sealers  say,  cooks  it. 
We  have  lost  several  skins  in  this  way.  Each  seal 
yields  a  liberal  supply  of  oil,  the  average  thus  far 
being  five  gallons  each." 

Besides  the  Hispid  seal,  the  only  species  which 
visited  Rensselaer  Harbor  was  the  Plioca  harhata,  the 
large  bearded  seal,  or  usuh  of  the  Esquimaux.  I  have 
measured  these  ten  feet  in  length  and  eight  in  circum- 
ference, of  such  unwieldy  bulk  as  not  unfrequently  to 
be  mistaken  for  the  walrus. 


THE      NET  SI  K     AND     U  S  U  K.  261 


The  Netsik  will  not  perforate  ice  of  more  than  one 
season's  growth,  and  are  looked  for,  therefore,  where 
there  was  open  water  the  previous  year.  But  the 
bearded  seals  have  no  atluk.  They  depend  for  respi- 
ration upon  the  accidental  chasms  in  the  ice,  and  are 
found  wherever  the  bergs  or  floes  have  been  in  motion. 
They  are  thus  more  diffused  in  their  range  than  their 
sun-basking  little  brethren,  who  crowd  together  in  com- 
munities, and  in  some  places  absolutely  throng  the 
level  ices. 

The  Usuh  appears  a  little  later  than  the  Netsik, 
and  his  coming  is  looked  for  anxiously  by  the  Esqui- 
maux. The  lines,  ailurtak,  which  are  made  from  his 
skin,  are  the  lightest  and  strongest  and  most  durable 
of  any  in  use.  They  are  prized  by  the  hunters  in 
their  contests  with  the  walrus. 

To  obtain  the  atlunak  in  full  perfection,  the  ani- 
mal is  skinned  in  a  spiral,  so  as  to  give  a  continuous 
coil  from  head  to  tail.  This  is  carefully  chewed  by 
the  teeth  of  the  matrons,  and,  after  being  well  greased 
with  the  burnt  oil  of  their  lamps,  is  hung  up  in  their 
huts  to  season.  At  the  time  referred  to  in  my  journal, 
Anoatok  was  completely  festooned  with  them. 

On  one  occasion,  while  working  my  way  toward  the 
Esqidmaux  huts,  I  saw  a  large  Usuk  basking  asleep 
upon  the  ice.  Taking  off  my  shoes,  I  commenced  a 
somewhat  refrigerating  process  of  stalking,  lying  upon 
my  belly,  and  crawling  along  step  by  step  behind  the 
little  knobs  of  floe.  At  last,  when  I  was  within  long 
rifle-shot,  the  animal  gave  a  sluggish  roll  to  one  side, 


262 


A     RIVAL      SEAL-HUNTER. 


and  suddenly  lifted  his  head.  The  movement  was 
evidently  independent  of  me,  for  he  strained  his  neck 
in  nearly  the  opposite  direction.  Then,  for  the  first 
time,  I  found  that  I  had  a  rival  seal-hunter  in  a  large 
bear,  vho  was,  on  his  belly  like  myself,  waiting  with 


THE     ATLUK,      OS      SEAL-HOLE. 


commendable  patience  and  cold  feet  for  a  chance  of 
nearer  approach. 

What  should  I  do? — the  bear  was  doubtless  worth 
more  to  me  than  the  seal :  but  the  seal  was  now  within 
shot,  and  the  bear  "a  bird  in  the  bush."  Besides, 
my  bullet  once  invested  in  the  seal  would  leave  me 
defenceless.     I  might  be  giving  a  dinner  to  the  bear 


OUR     ENCOUNTER.  263 


and  saving  myself  for  his  dessert.  These  meditations 
were  soon  brought  to  a  close;  for  a  second  movement 
of  the  seal  so  aroused  my  hunter's  instincts  that  I 
pulled  the  trigger.  My  cap  alone  exploded.  Instantly, 
with  a  floundering  splash,  the  seal  descended  into  the 
deep,  and  the  bear,  with  three  or  four  rapid  leaps, 
stood  disconsolately  by  the  place  of  his  descent.  For 
a  single  moment  we  stared  each  other  in  the  face,  and 
then,  with  that  discretion  which  is  the  better  part  of 
valor,  the  bear  ran  off  in  one  direction,  and  I  followed 
his  example  in  the  other. 

The  generally-received  idea  of  the  Polar  bear 
battling  wdth  the  walrus  meets  little  favor  among 
the  Esquimaux  of  Smith's  Straits.  My  own  expe- 
rience is  directly  adverse  to  the  truth  of  the  story. 
The  walrus  is  never  out  of  reach  of  water,  and,  in 
his  peculiar  element,  is  without  a  rival.  I  have  seen 
the  bear  follow  the  ussuk  by  diving;  but  the  tough 
hide  and  great  power  of  the  walrus  forbid  such  an 
attack. 

"June  9,  Friday. — To-day  I  was  able  to  walk  out 
upon  the  floe  for  the  first  time.  My  steps  were 
turned  to  the  observatory,  where,  close  beside  the 
coffins  of  Baker  and  Schubert,  Sontag  was  at  w^ork 
with  the  unifilar,  correcting  the  winter  disturbances. 
Our  local  deviation  seems  to  have  corrected  itself: 
the  iron  in  our  comfortless  little  cell  seems  to  have 
been  so  distributed  that  our  results  were  not  affected 
by  it. 

"  I  was  very  much  struck  by  the  condition  of  the 


264  CHANGE      IN      THE     FLOE. 


floe-ice.  Hitherto  I  have  been  dependent  upon  the 
accounts  of  my  messmates,  and  believed  that  the  work 
of  thaw  was  going  on  with  extreme  rapidity.  They 
are  mistaken :  we  have  a  late  season.  The  ice-foot 
has  not  materially  changed  either  in  breadth  or  level, 
and  its  base  has  been  hardly  affected  at  all,  except  by 
the  overflow  of  the  tides.  The  floe,  though  under- 
going the  ordinary  molecular  changes  which  accom- 
pany elevation  of  temperature,  shows  less  surface- 
change  than  the  Lancaster  Sound  ices  in  early  May. 
All  this,  l^ut  especially  the  condition  of  the  ice-foot, 
warns  me  to  prepare  for  the  contingency  of  not  escap- 
ing. It  is  a  momentous  warning.  We  have  no  coal 
for  a  second  winter  here :  our  stock  of  fresh  provisions 
is  utterly  exhausted;  and  our  sick  need  change,  as 
essential  to  their  recovery. 

"  The  willows  are  tolerably  forward  on  Butler  Island. 
Poor,  stunted  crawlers,  they  show  their  expanded  leaf- 
lets against  the  gray  rocks.  Among  these  was  the 
Bear  berry,  [S.  uva  ursi:)  knowing  its  reputation  with 
the  Esquimaux  to  the  south  as  a  remedy  for  scurvy,  I 
gleaned  leaves  enough  for  a  few  scanty  mouthfuls. 
The  lichens  are  very  conspicuous ;  but  the  mosses  and 
grasses  and  heaths  have  not  yet  made  their  appearance 
in  the  little  valley  between  the  rocks." 


DRAGGING       SEAL 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

PROGRESS    OF    SEASON PLANTS    IN    WINTER BIRDS    RETURNING  — 

COCHLEARIA THE    PLANTS. 


"June  10,  Saturday. — Hans  was  ordered  yesterday 
to  hunt  in  the  du^ection  of  the  Esquimaux  huts,  in  the 
hope  of  determining  the  position  of  the  open  water. 
He  did  not  return  hast  night ;  but  Dr.  Hayes  and  Mr. 
Ohlsen,  who  were  sent  after  him  this  morning  with 
the  dog-sledge,  found  the  hardy  savage  fast  asleep  not 

2  05 


266  PROGRESS     OF     SEASO^^ 


five  miles  from  the  brig.  Alongside  of  him  was  a 
large  usiik  or  bearded  seal,  (P.  harhata,)  shot,  as  usual, 
in  the  head.  He  had  dragged  it  for  seven  hours  over 
the  ice-foot.  The  dogs  having  now  recruited,  he  started 
light  to  join  Morton  at  the  glacier. 

"June  11,  Sunday. — Another  walk  on  shore  showed 
me  the  andromeda  in  flower,  and  the  saxifrages  and 
carices  green  under  the  dried  tufts  of  last  year.  This 
rapidly-maturing  vegetation  is  of  curious  interest.  The 
andromeda  tetragona  had  advanced  rapidly  toward 
fructification  without  a  corresponding  development  of 
either  stalk  or  leaflet.  In  fact,  all  the  heaths — and 
there  were  three  species  around  our  harbor — had  a 
thoroughly  moorland  and  stunted  aspect.  Instead  of 
the  graceful  growth  which  should  characterize  them, 
they  showed  only  a  low  scrubby  sod  or  turf,  yet 
studded  with  flowers.  The  spots  from  which  I  ga- 
thered them  were  well  infiltrated  with  melted  snows, 
and  the  rocks  enclosed  them  so  as  to  aid  the  solar 
heat  by  reverberation.  Here,  too,  silene  and  cera- 
thium,  as  well  as  the  characteristic  flower-growths  of 
the  later  summer,  the  poppy,  and  sorrel,  and  saxi- 
frages, were  already  recognisable. 

"  Few  of  us  at  home  can  realize  the  protecting  value 
of  this  warm  coverlet  of  snow.  No  eider-down  in  the 
cradle  of  an  infant  is  tucked  in  more  kindly  than  the 
sleeping-dress  of  winter  about  this  feeble  flower-life. 
The  first  warm  snows  of  August  and  September  falling 
on  a  thickly-pleached  carpet  of  grasses,  heaths,  and 
willows,  enshrine   the   flowery  growths  which   nestle 


PLANTS     IN      WINTER.  267 


round  them  in  a  non-conducting  air-chamber ;  and,  as 
each  successive  snow  increases  the  thickness  of  the 
cover,  we  have,  before  the  intense  cold  of  winter  sets 
in,  a  light  cellular  bed  covered  by  drift,  six,  eight,  or 
ten  feet  deep,  in  which  the  plant  retains  its  vitality. 
The  frozen  subsoil  does  not  encroach  upon  this  narrow 
zone  of  vegetation.  I  have  found  in  midwinter,  in  this 
high  latitude  of  78°  50',  the  surflice  so  nearly  moist  as 
to  be  friable  to  the  touch ;  and  upon  the  ice-floes, 
commencing  with  a  surface-temperature  of  — 30°,  I 
found  at  two  feet  deep  a  temperature  of  — 8°,  at  four 
feet  +2°,  and  at  eight  feet  +2G°.  This  was  on  the 
largest  of  a  range  of  east  and  west  hummock-drifts  in 
the  open  way  off  Caj^e  Stafford.  The  glacier  which  we 
became  so  familiar  with  afterward  at  Etah  yields  an 
uninterrupted  stream  throughout  the  year. 

"My  experiments  prove  that  the  conducting  power 
of  the  snow  is  jDroportioned  to  its  compression  by  winds, 
rains,  drifts,  and  congelation.  The  early  spring  and 
late  fall  and  summer  snows  are  more  cellular  and  less 
condensed  than  the  nearly  impalpable  powder  of 
winter.  The  drifts,  therefore,  that  accumulate  during 
nine  months  of  the  year,  are  dispersed  in  well-defined 
layers  of  differing  density.  We  have  first  the  warm 
cellular  snows  of  fall  wdiicli  surround  the  plant,  next 
the  fine  impacted  snow-dust  of  winter,  and  above  these 
the  later  humid  deposits  of  the  spring. 

"It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  effects  of  this  dispo- 
sition of  layers  upon  the  safety  of  the  vegetable  growths 
below  them.     These,  at  least  in  the  earlier  summer, 


268  BIRDS      RETURNING. 


occupy  the  inclined  sloi^es  that  face  the  sun,  and  the 
several  strata  of  suoay  take  of  course  the  same  inclina- 
tion. The  consequence  is  that  as  the  upper  snow  is 
dissipated  by  the  early  thawings,  and  sinks  upon  the 
more  com.pact  layer  below,  it  is  to  a  great  extent  ar- 
rested, and  runs  off  like  rain  from  a  slope  of  clay. 
The  plant  reposes  thus  in  its  cellular  bed,  guarded 
from  the  rush  of  waters,  and  protected  too  from  the 
nightly  frosts  by  the  icy  roof  above  it. 

"June  16,  Friday. — Two  long-tailed  ducks  [Harelda 
glacialis)  visited  us,  evidently  seeking  their  breeding- 
grounds.  They  are  beautiful  birds,  either  at  rest  or  on 
the  wing.  We  now  have  the  snow-birds,  the  snipe, 
the  burgomaster  gull,  and  the  long-tailed  duck,  enliven- 
ing our  solitude;  but  the  snow-birds  are  the  only  ones 
in  numbers,  crowding  our  rocky  islands,  and  making 
our  sunny  night-time  musical  with  home-remembered 
songs.  Of  each  of  the  others  we  have  but  a  solitary 
pair,  who  seem  to  have  left  their  fellows  for  this  far 
northern  mating-ground  in  order  to  live  unmolested. 
I  long  for  specimens ;  but  they  shall  not  be  fired  at. 

The  ptarmigan  show  a  singular  backwardness  in 
assuming  the  summer  feathering.  The  male  is  still 
entirely  white ;  except,  in  some  specimens,  a  few  brown 
feathers  on  the  crown  of  the  head.  The  female  has 
made  more  progress,  and  is  now  well  coated  with  her 
new  plumage,  the  coverts  and  quill-feathers  still  re- 
maining white.  At  Upernavik,  in  lat.  73°,  they  are 
already  in  full  summer  costume. 

"June    18,    Sunday. — Another   pair    of    long-tailed 


COCIILEARIA.  209 


ducks  passed  over  our  bay,  bound  for  farther  breeding- 
grounds;  we  saw  also  an  ivory-gull  and  tAvo  great 
northern  divers,  ( Colymhus  glacialis,)  the  most  imposing 
birds  of  their  tribe.  These  last  flew  very  high,  emit- 
ting at  regular  intervals  their  reed-like  '  kawk.' 

"Mr,  Ohlsen  and  Dr.  Hayes  are  off  on  an  overland 
tramp.  I  sent  them  to  inspect  the  open  water  to  the 
southward.  The  immovable  state  of  the  ice-foot  gives 
me  anxiety :  last  year,  a  large  bay  above  us  was  closed 
all  summer;  and  the  land-ice,  as  we  find  it  here,  is  as 
perennial  as  the  glacier. 

"June  20,  Tuesday. — This  morning,  to  my  great  sur- 
prise, Petersen  brought  me  quite  a  handful  of  scurvy- 
grass,  [C.  fenestrata.)  In  my  fall  list  of  the  stinted 
flora  here,  it  had  quite  escaped  my  notice.  I  felt  grate- 
ful to  him  for  his  kindness,  and,  without  the  affectation 
of  offering  it  to  any  one  else,  ate  it  at  once.  Each  plant 
stood  about  one  inch  high,  the  miniature  leaves  ex- 
panding throughout  a  little  radius  of  hardly  one  inch 
more.  Yet,  dwarfed  as  it  was,  the  fructifying  process 
was  nearly  perfected ;  the  buds  already  expanding  and 
nearly  ready  to  burst.  We  found  cochlearia  afterward 
at  Littleton  Island,  but  never  in  any  quantity  north  of 
Cape  Alexander.  Although  the  melted  snows  distil 
freely  over  the  darker  rocks,  (porphyries  ajid  green- 
stones,) it  is  a  rare  exception  to  note  any  vegetable  dis- 
coloration of  the  surffice  beneath.  There  are  few  signs  of 
those  confervaceous  growths  which  are  universal  as  high 
as  Upernavik.  The  nature  of  this  narrative  does  not 
permit  me  to  indulge  in  matters  unconnected  with  my 


270  THE      PLANTS. 


story:  I  cite  these  in  passing  as  among  the  indications 
of  our  high  northern  latitude. 

"June  21,  Wednesday. — A  snow,  moist  and  flaky, 
melting  upon  our  decks,  and  cleaning  up  the  dingy  sur- 
face of  the  great  ice-plain  with  a  new  garment.  We 
are  at  the  summer  solstice,  the  day  of  greatest  solar 
light!  Would  that  the  traditionally-verified  but  me- 
teorologically-disproved equinoctial  storm  could  break 
upon  us,  to  destroy  the  tenacious  floes ! 

"June  22,  Thursday. — The  ice  changes  slowly,  but 
the  progress  of  vegetation  is  excessively  rapid.  The 
growth  on  the  rocky  group  near  our  brig  is  surprising. 

"June  23,  Friday. — The  eiders  have  come  back:  a 
pair  were  seen  in  the  morning,  soon  followed  by  four 
ducks  and  drakes.  The  poor  things  seemed  to  be  seek- 
ing breeding-grounds,  but  the  ice  must  have  scared 
them.     They  were  flying  southward. 

"June  25,  Sunday. — Walked  on  shore  and  watched 
the  changes:  andromeda  in  flower,  poppy  and  ranun- 
culus the  same :  saw  two  snipe  and  some  tern. 

"Mr.  Ohlsen  returned  from  a  walk  with  Mr.  Peter- 
sen. They  saw  reindeer,  and  brought  back  a  noble 
specimen  of  the  king  duck.  It  was  a  solitary  male, 
resplendent  with  the  orange,  black,  and  green  of  his 
head  and  neck. 

"Stephenson  is  better;  and  I  think  that  a  marked 
improvement,  although  a  slow  one,  shows  itself  in  all 
of  us.  I  work  the  men  lightly,  and  allow  plenty  of 
l3asking  in  the  sun.  In  the  afternoon  we  walk  on 
shore,  to  eat  such  succulent  plants  as  we  can  find  amid 


THE     PLANTS. 


271 


the  snow.  Tlio  pyrola  I  have  not  found,  nor  the  coch- 
learia,  save  in  one  spot,  and  then  dwarfed.  But  we 
have  the  lychnis,  the  young  sorrel,  the  andromeda,  the 
draba,  and  the  willow-bark;  this  last  an  excellent 
tonic,  and,  in  common  with  all  the  Arctic  vegetable 
astringents,  I  think,  powerfully  antiscorbutic." 


._vr_^Aii»m@l5CgE^^ 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

MR.    BONSALL's    return  —  HIS    STORY  —  THE    BEAR    IN    CAMP HIS 

FATE BEARS    AT    SPORT THE    THAWS. 

"June  27,  Tuesday. — McGary  and  Bonsall  are  back 
with  Hickey  and  Riley.  They  arrived  last  evening : 
all  well,  except  that  the  snow  has  affected  their  eye- 
sight badly,  owing  to  the  scorbutic  condition  of  their 
systems.  Mr.  McGary  is  entirely  blind,  and  I  fear  will 
be  found  slow  to  cure.  They  have  done  admirably. 
They  bring  back  a  continued  series  of  observations, 
perfectly  well  kept  up,  for  the  further  authentication 
of  our  survey.  They  had  a  good  chronometer,  arti- 
ficial horizon,  and  sextant,  and  their  results  correspond 
entirely  with  those  of  Mr.  Sontag  and  myself.  They 
are  connected  too  with  the  station  at  Chimney  Rock, 
Cape  Thackeray,  which  we  have  established  by  theo- 
dolite. I  may  be  satisfied  now  with  our  projection  of 
the  Greenland  coast.  The  different  localities  to  the 
south  have  been  referred  to  the  position  of  our  winter 


MR.     BON  ball's      RETURN.  273 


harbor,  and  this  has  been  definitely  fixed  by  the  labors 
of  Mr.  Sontag,  our  astronomer.  We  have  therefore  not 
only  a  reliable  base,  but  a  set  of  primary  triangula- 
tions  which,  though  limited,  may  support  the  minor 
field-work  of  our  sextants. 

lournm  of  gjcssrs.  Ut^arg  m)i  |onsalL 

"  They  left  the  brig  on  the  3d,  and  reached  the  Great 
Glacier  on  the  15th,  after  only  twelve  days  of  travel. 
They  showed  great  judgment  in  passing  the  bays ;  and, 
although  impeded  by  the  heavy  snows,  would  have 
been  able  to  remain  much  longer  in  the  field,  but  for 
the  destruction  of  our  provision-depots  by  the  bears. 

"I  am  convinced,  however,  that  no  efibrts  of  theirs 
could  have  scaled  the  Great  Glacier;  so  that  the  loss 
of  our  provisions,  though  certainly  a  very  serious  mis- 
hap, cannot  be  said  to  have  caused  their  failure.  They 
were  well  provided  with  pointed  staves,  foot-clampers, 
and  other  apparatus  for  climbing  ice  -,  but,  from  all 
they  tell  me,  any  attempt  to  scale  this  stupendous 
glacial  mass  would  have  been  madness,  and  I  am  truly 
glad  that  they  desisted  from  it  before  fatal  accident 
befell  them. 

"  Mr.  Bonsall  is  making  out  his  report  of  the  daily 
operations  of  this  party.  It  seems  that  the  same  heavy 
snow  which  had  so  much  interfered  with  my  travel  in 
April  and  May  still  proved  their  greatest  drawback. 
It  was  accumulated  particularly  between  the  headlands 

Vol.  I.— 18 


274  bonsall's    story. 


of  the  bays ;  and,  as  it  was  already  affected  by  tbe 
warm  sun,  it  called  for  great  care  in  crossing  it.  They 
encountered  drifts  which  were  altogether  impenetrable, 
and  in  such  cases  could  only  advance  by  long  circuits, 
after  reconnoitring  from  the  top  of  icebergs. 

"I  have  tried  in  vain  to  find  out  some  good  general 
rule,  when  traversing  the  ice  near  the  coast,  to  avoid 
the  accumulation  of  snows  and  hummock-ridges.  It 
appears  that  the  direct  line  between  headland  and 
headland  or  cape  and  cape  is  nearly  always  obstructed 
by  broken  ice ;  while  in  the  deep  recesses  the  grounded 
ice  is  even  worse.  I  prefer  a  track  across  the  middle 
of  the  bay,  outside  of  the  grounded  ices  and  inside  of 
the  hummock-ridges;  unless,  as  sometimes  happens, 
the  late  fall-ice  is  to  be  found  extending  in  level  flats 
outside. 

"  This  is  evidently  the  season  when  the  bears  are  in 
most  abundance.  Their  tracks  were  everywhere,  both 
on  shore  and  upon  the  floes.  One  of  them  had  the 
audacity  to  attempt  intruding  itself  upon  the  party 
during  one  of  their  halts  upon  the  ice;  and  Bonsall 
tells  a  good  story  of  the  manner  in  which  they  received 
and  returned  his  salutations.  It  was  about  half  an 
hour  after  midnight,  and  they  were  all  sleeping  away 
a  long  day's  fatigue,  when  McGary  either  heard  or  felt, 
he  could  hardly  tell  which,  something  that  was  scratch- 
ing at  the  snow  immediately  by  his  head.  It  waked 
him  just  enough  to  allow  him  to  recognise  a  huge 
animal  actively  engaged  in  reconnoitring  the  circuit  of 
the  tent.     His  startled  outcry  aroused  his  companion- 


THE      BEAR     IN      CAMP. 


275 


inmates,  but  without  in  any  degree  disturbing  the  un- 
welcome visitor ;  specially  unwelcome  at  that  time  and 
place,  for  all  the  guns  had  been  left  on  the  sledge,  a 
little  distance  off,  and  there  was  not  so  much  as  a 
walking-pole  inside.     There  was  of  course  something 


iEAR      IN      CAMP. 


of  natural  confusion  in  the  little  council  of  war.  The 
first  impulse  w^as  to  make  a  rush  for  the  arms;  but 
this  was  soon  decided  to  be  very  doubtfully  practicable, 
if  at  all,  for  the  bear,  having  satisfied  himself  with  his 
observations  of  the  exterior,  now  presented  himself  at 
the  tent-opening.  Sundry  volleys  of  lucifer  matches 
and  some  impromptu  torches  of  newspaper  were  fired 


276  CACHE     DESTROYED. 


without  alarming  him,  and,  after  a  little  while,  he 
planted  himself  at  the  doorwaj  and  began  making  his 
supper  upon  the  carcass  of  a  seal  which  had  been  shot 
the  day  before. 

"  Tom  Hickey  was  the  first  to  bethink  him  of  the 
military  device  of  a  sortie  from  the  postern,  and,  cutting 
a  hole  with  his  knife,  crawled  out  at  the  rear  of  the 
tent.  Here  he  extricated  a  boat-hook,  that  formed  one 
of  the  supporters  of  the  ridge-pole,  and  made  it  the 
instrument  of  a  right  valorous  attack.  A  blow  well 
administered  on  the  nose  caused  the  animal  to  retreat 
for  the  moment  a  few  paces  beyond  the  sledge,  and 
Tom,  calculating  his  distance  nicely,  sprang  forward, 
seized  a  rifle,  and  fell  back  in  safety  upon  his  comrades. 
In  a  few  seconds  more,  Mr.  Bonsall  had  sent  a  ball 
through  and  through  the  body  of  his  enemy.  I  was 
assured  that  after  this  adventure  the  party  adhered  to 
the  custom  I  had  enjoined,  of  keeping  at  all  times  a 
watch  and  fire-arms  inside  the  camping-tent. 

"The  final  cache,  which  I  relied  so  much  upon,  was 
entirely  destroyed.  It  had  been  built  mtli  extreme 
care,  of  rocks  which  had  been  assembled  by  very  heavy 
labor,  and  adjusted  with  much  aid  often  from  capstan- 
bars  as  levers.  The  entire  construction  was,  so  far  as 
our  means  permitted,  most  effective  and  resisting. 
Yet  these  tigers  of  the  ice  seemed  to  have  scarcely 
encountered  an  obstacle.  Not  a  morsel  of  pemmican 
remained  except  in  the  iron  cases,  which,  being  round 
with  conical  ends,  defied  both  claws  and  teeth.  They 
had  rolled  and  pawed  them  in  every  direction,  tossing 


BEARS     AT     SPORT. 


277 


them  about  like  footballs,  although  over  eighty  pounds 
in  weight.  An  alcohol-case,  strongly  iron-bound,  was 
dashed  into  small  fragments,  and  a  tin  can  of  liquor 
mashed  and  twisted  almost  into  a  ball.     The  claws  of 


"**iritinii«„- 


THE      CACHE       DESTROYED. 


the  beast  had  perforated  the  metal,  and  torn  it  up  as 
with  a  cold  chisel. 

"  They  were  too  dainty  for  salt  meats :  ground  coffee 
they  had  an  evident  relish  for :  old  canvas  was  a  favor- 
ite for  some  reason  or  other;  even  our  flag,  Avhich  had 
been  reared  'to  take  possession'  of  the  waste,  was 
gnawed  down  to  the  very  staff.  They  had  made  a 
regular  frolic  of  it;  rolling  our  bread-barrels  over  the 


Zib  THE      THAWS. 


ice-foot  and  into  the  broken  outside  ice ;  and,  unable  to 
masticate  our  heavy  India-rubber  cloth,  they  had  tied 
it  up  in  unimaginable  hard  knots. 

"  McGary  describes  the  whole  area  around  the  cache 
as  marked  by  the  well-worn  paths  of  these  animals; 
and  an  adjacent  slope  of  ice-covered  rock,  with  an 
angle  of  45°,  was  so  worn  and  covered  with  their  hair, 
as  to  suggest  the  idea  that  they  had  been  amusing 
themselves  by  sliding  down  it  on  their  haunches.  A 
performance,  by-the-way,  in  which  I  afterward  caught 
them  myself, 

"June  28,  Wednesday. — Hans  came  up  with  the 
party  on  the  17th.  Morton  and  he  are  still  out.  They 
took  a  day's  rest;  and  then,  'following  the  old  tracks,' 
as  McGary  reports,  '  till  they  were  clear  of  the  cracks 
near  the  islands,  pushed  northward  at  double-quick 
time.  When  last  seen,  they  were  both  of  them  walk- 
ing, for  the  snow  was  too  soft  and  deep  for  them  to 
ride  with  their  heavy  load.'  Fine  weather,  but  the  ice 
yields  reluctantly." 

While  thus  watching  the  indications  of  advancing 
summer,  my  mind  turned  anxiously  to  the  continued 
absence  of  Morton  and  Hans.  We  were  already  beyond 
the  season  vfhen  travel  upon  the  ice  was  considered 
practicable  by  our  English  predecessors  in  Wellington 
Channel,  and,  in  spite  of  the  continued  solidity  around 
us,  it  was  unsafe  to  presume  too  much  upon  our  high 
northern  position. 

The  ice,  although  seemingly  as  unbroken  as  ever, 
was  no  longer  fit  for  doff-travel ;  the  floes  were  covered 


THE      RETURN.  279 


with  water-pools,  many  of  which  could  not  be  forded 
by  our  team;  and,  as  these  multiplied  with  the  rapidly- 
advancing  thaws,  they  united  one  with  another, 
chequering  the  level  waste  with  an  interminable  repe- 
tition of  confluent  lakes.  These  were  both  embarrassing 
and  dangerous.  Our  little  brig  was  already  so  thawed 
out  where  her  sides  came  in  contact  with  her  icy  cradle 
as  to  make  it  dangerous  to  descend  without  a  gangway, 
and  our  hunting  parties  came  back  wet  to  the  skin. 

It  was,  therefore,  with  no  slight  joy  that  on  the 
evening  of  the  10th,  while  walking  with  Mr.  Bonsall, 
a  distant  sound  of  dogs  caught  my  ear.  These  faithful 
servants  generally  bayed  their  full-mouthed  welcome 
from  afar  off,  but  they  always  dashed  in  with  a  wild 
sjDeed  which  made  their  outcry  a  direct  precursor  of 
their  arrival.  Not  so  these  well-worn  travellers.  Hans 
and  Morton  staggered  beside  the  limping  dogs,  and 
poor  Jenny  was  riding  as  a  passenger  upon  the  sledge. 
Ft  was  many  hours  before  they  shared  the  rest  and  com- 
fort of  our  ship. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Morton's  return  —  iiis    narrative — peabody   bay — through 

THE    BERGS  —  BRIDGING    THE    CHASMS  —  THE   WEST    LAND  —  THE 

DOGS    IN    FRIGHT  —  OPEN    WATER THE    ICE-FOOT  —  THE    POLAR 

TIDES  —  CAPES   JACKSON   AND    MORRIS  —  THE  CHANNEL  —  FREE   OF 

ICE BIRDS    AND    PLANTS BEAR    AND     CUB THE     HUNT THE 

DEATH FRANKLIN    AND    LAFAYETTE THE    ANTARCTIC    FLAG 

COURSE     OF     TIDES MOUNT     PARRY VICTORIA     AND     ALBERT 

MOUNTAINS RESUME THE    BIRDS     APPEAR THE    VEGETATION 

THE     PETREL CAPE     CONSTITUTION THEORIES     OF     AN     OPEN 

SEA  —  ILLUSORY    DISCOVERIES  —  CHANGES    OF    CLIMATE  —  A    SUG- 
GESTION. 

Mr.  Morton  left  the  brig  with  the  relief  party  of 
McGary  on  the  4th  of  June.  He  took  his  ^Dlace  at  the 
track-lines  like  the  others ;  but  he  was  ordered  to  avoid 
all  extra  labor,  so  as  to  husband  his  strength  for  the 
final  passage  of  the  ice. 

On  the  loth  he  reached  the  base  of  the  Great  Gla- 
cier, and  on  the  ICtli  was  joined  by  Hans  with  the 
dogs.  A  single  day  was  given  to  feed  and  refresh  the 
animals,  and  on  the  18th  the  two  companies  parted. 
Morton's  account  I  have  not  felt  myself  at  liberty  to 

280 


I 


PEABODY     BAY.  281 


alter.     I  give  it  as  nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words, 
without  afFecting  any  modification  of  his  style. 

The  party  left  Cache  Island  at  12.35  A.  m.,  crossing 
the  land-ices  by  portage,  and  going  south  for  about  a 
mile  to  avoid  a  couple  of  bad  seams  caused  by  the 
breakage  of  the  glacier.  Here  Morton  and  Hans  sepa- 
rated from  the  land-party,  and  went  northward,  keep- 
ing parallel  with  the  glacier,  and  from  five  to  seven 
miles  distant.  The  ice  was  free  from  hummocks,  but 
heavily  covered  with  snow,  through  which  they  walked 
knee  deep.  They  camped  about  eight  miles  from  the 
glacier,  at  7.45,  travelHng  that  night  about  twenty- 
eight  miles.  Here  a  crack  allowed  them  to  measure 
the  thickness  of  the  ice :  it  was  seven  feet  five  inches. 
The  thermometer  at  6  A.  m.  gave  +28°  for  the  tem- 
perature of  the  air;  29.2  for  the  water. 

They  started  again  at  half-past  nine.  The  ice,  at 
first,  was  very  heavy,  and  they  were  frequently  over 
their  knees  in  the  dry  snow ;  but,  after  crossing  certain 
drifts,  it  became  hard  enough  to  bear  the  sledge,  and 
the  dogs  made  four  miles  an  hour  until  twenty  minutes 
past  four,  when  they  reached  the  middle  of  Peabody 
Bay.  They  then  found  themselves  among  the  bergs 
which  on  former  occasions  had  prevented  other  parties 
from  getting  through.  These  were  generally  very 
high,  evidently  newly  separated  from  the  glacier. 
Their   surfaces  were  fresh   and  glassy,   and  not  like 


282  THROUGH      THE     BERGS. 


those  generally  met  with  in  Baffin's  Bay, — less  worn, 
and  bluer,  and  looking  in  all  respects  like  the  face  of 
the  Grand  Glacier.  Many  were  rectangular,  some  of 
them  regular  squares,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  each  way; 
others,  more  than  a  mile  long. 

They  could  not  see  more  than  a  ship's-length  ahead, 
the  icebergs  were  so  unusually  close  together.  Old 
icebergs  bulge  and  tongue  out  below,  and  are  thus  pre- 
vented from  uniting ;  but  these  showed  that  they  were 
lately  launched,  for  they  apjDroached  each  other  so 
nearly  that  the  party  were  sometimes  forced  to  squeeze 
through  places  less  than  four  feet  wide,  through  which 
the  dogs  could  just  draw  the  sledge.  Sometimes  they 
could  find  no  passage  between  two  bergs,  the  ice  being 
so  crunched  up  between  them  that  they  could  not  force 
their  way.  Under  these  circumstances,  they  would 
either  haul  the  sledge  over  the  low  tongues  of  the 
berg,  or  retrace  their  steps,  searching  through  the 
drift  for  a  practicable  road. 

This  they  were  not  always  fortunate  in  finding,  and 
it  was  at  best  a  tedious  and  in  some  cases  a  dangerous 
alternative,  for  oftentimes  they  could  not  cross  them ; 
and,  when  they  tried  to  double,  the  comjoass,  their 
only  guide,  confused  them  by  its  variation. 

It  took  them  a  long  while  to  get  through  into 
smoother  ice.  A  tolerably  wide  passage  would  appear 
between  two  bergs,  which  they  would  gladly  follow; 
then  a  narrower  one ;  then  no  opening  in  front,  but 
one  to  the  side.  Following  that  a  little  distance,  a 
blank  ice-cliff  would  close  the  way  altogether,  and  they 


BRIDGING     THE     CHASMS.  283 


were  forced  to  retrace  their  steps  and  begin  again. 
Constantly  baffled,  but,  like  true  fellows,  determined 
to  "  go  ahead,"  they  at  last  found  a  lane  some  six  miles 
to  the  west,  which  led  upon  their  right  course.  But 
they  were  from  eight  o'clock  at  night  till  two  or  three 
of  the  next  morning,  puzzling  their  way  out  of  the 
maze,  like  a  blind  man  in  the  streets  of  a  strange  city. 

June  19,  Monday. — At  8.45  A.  m.  they  encamped. 
Morton  then  climbed  a  berg,  in  order  to  select  their 
best  road.  Bt^yond  some  bergs  he  caught  glimpses  of 
a  great  white  plain,  which  proved  to  be  the  glacier 
seen  far  into  the  interior;  for,  on  getting  up  another 
berg  farther  on,  he  saw  its  face  as  it  fronted  on  the 
bay.  This  was  near  its  northern  end.  It  looked  full 
of  stones  and  earth,  while  large  rocks  projected  out 
from  it  and  rose  above  it  here  and  there. 

They  rested  till  half-joast  ten,  having  walked  all  the 
time  to  spare  the  dogs.  After  starting,  they  went  on 
for  ten  miles,  but  were  then  arrested  by  wide  seams  in 
the  ice,  bergs,  and  much  broken  ice.  So  they  turned 
about,  and  reached  their  last  camp  by  twelve,  mid- 
night. They  then  went  westward,  and,  after  several 
trials,  made  a  way,  the  dogs  running  well.  It  took 
them  but  two  hours  to  reach  the  better  ice,  for  the 
bergs  were  in  a  narrow  belt. 

The  chasms  between  them  were  sometimes  four  feet 
wide,  with  water  at  the  bottom.  These  they  bridged 
in  our  usual  manner;  that  is  to  soy^,  they  attacked  the 
nearest  large  hummocks  with  their  axes,  and,  chopping 
them  down,  rolled  the  heaviest  pieces  they  could  move 


284  THE     WEST      LAND. 


into  the  fissure,  so  that  they  wedged  each  other  in. 
They  then  filled  up  the  spaces  between  the  blocks 
with  smaller  lumps  of  ice  as  well  as  they  could,  and 
so  contrived  a  rough  sort  of  bridge  to  coax  the  dogs 
over.  Such  a  seam  would  take  about  an  hour  and  a 
half  to  fill  up  well  and  cross. 

On  quitting  the  berg-field,  they  saw  two  dovekies  in  a 
crack,  and  shot  one.  The  other  flew  to  the  northeast. 
Here  they  sighted  the  northern  shore,  ("  West  Land,") 
mountainous,  rolling,  but  very  distant,  perhaps  fifty  or 
sixty  miles  off.  They  drove  on  over  the  best  ice  they 
had  met  due  north.  After  passing  about  twelve  miles 
of  glacier,  and  seeing  thirty  of  opposite  shore,  they 
camped  at  7.20  A.  m. 

They  were  now  nearly  abreast  of  the  termination 
of  the  Great  Glacier.  It  was  mixed  with  earth  and 
rocks.  The  snow  sloped  from  the  land  to  the  ice,  and 
the  two  seemed  to  be  mingled  together  for  eight  or  ten 
miles  to  the  north,  when  the  land  became  solid,  and 
the  glacier  was  lost.  The  height  of  this  land  seemed 
about  four  hundred  feet,  and  the  glacier  lower. 

June  21,  Wednesday. — They  stood  to  the  north  at 
11.30  P.M.,  and  made  for  what  Morton  thought  a  cape, 
seeing  a  vacancy  between  it  and  the  West  Land.  The 
ice  was  good,  even,  and  free  from  bergs,  only  two  or 
thr^e  being  in  sight.  The  atmosphere  became  thick 
and  misty,  and  the  west  shore,  which  the}^  saw  faintly 
on  Tuesday,  was  not  visible.  They  could  only  see  the 
cape  for  which  they  steered.  The  cold  was  sensibly 
felt,  a  very  cutting  wind  blowing  N.E.  by  N.     They 


TUE     DOGS     IN     FRIGHT. 


285 


reached  the  opening  seen  to  the  westward  of  the  cape 
by  Thursday,  7  A.  m.  It  proved  to  be  a  channel ;  for, 
as  they  moved  on  in  the  misty  weather,  a  sudden  hft- 
ing  of  the  fog  showed  them  the  cape  and  the  western 
shore. 


ENTERING     THE     CHANNEL— CAPES     ANDREW     JACKSON     AND     JOHN     BARROW. 


The  ice  was  weak  and  rotten,  and  the  dogs  began 
to  tremble.  Proceeding  at  a  brisk  rate,  they  had  got 
upon  unsafe  ice  before  they  were  aware  of  it.  Their 
course  was  at  the  time  nearly  up  the  middle  of  the 
channel;  but,  as  soon  as  possible,  they  turned,  and, 
by  a  backward  circuit,  reached  the  shore.  The  dogs, 
as  their  fashion  is,  at  first  lay  down  and  refused  to 


286  OPEN      WATER. 


proceed,  trembling  violently.  The  only  way  to  in- 
duce the  terrified,  obstinate  brutes  to  get  on  was  for 
Hans  to  go  to  a  white-looking  spot  where  the  ice  was 
thicker,  the  soft  stuff  looking  dark;  then,  calling  the 
dogs  coaxingly  by  name,  they  would  crawl  to  him  on 
their  bellies.  So  they  retreated  from  place  to  place, 
until  they  reached  the  firm  ice  they  had  quitted.  A 
half-mile  brought  them  to  comparatively  safe  ice,  a 
mile  more  to  good  ice  again. 

In  the  midst  of  this  danger  they  had  during  the  lift- 
ings of  the  fog  sighted  open  water,  and  they  now  saw 
it  plainly.  There  was  no  wind  stirring,  and  its  face 
was  perfectly  smooth.  It  was  two  miles  farther  up  the 
channel  than  the  firm  ice  to  which  they  had  retreated. 
Hans  could  hardly  believe  it.  But  for  the  birds  that 
were  seen  in  great  numbers,  Morton  says  he  would  not 
have  believed  it  himself. 

The  ice  covered  the  mouth  of  the  channel  like  a 
horseshoe.  One  end  lapped  into  the  west  side  a  con- 
siderable distance  up  the  channel,  the  other  covered 
the  cape  for  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  so  that  they 
could  not  land  opposite  their  camp,  which  was  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  cape. 

That  night  they  succeeded  in  climbing  on  to  the 
level  by  the  floe-pieces,  and  walked  around  the  turn  of 
the  cape  for  some  distance,  leaving  their  dogs  behind. 
They  found  a  good  ico-foot,  very  wide,  which  extended 
as  far  as  the  cape.  They  saw  a  good  many  birds  on 
the  water,  both  eider-ducks  and  dovekies,  and  the  rocks 
on  shore  were  full  of  sea-swallows.     There  was  no  ice. 


THE      ICE-FOOT. 


287 


A  fog  coming  on,  they  turned  back  to  where  the  dogs 
had  been  left. 

They  started  agam  at  11.30  a.m.  of  the  21st.  On 
reaching  the  land-ice  they  unloaded,  and  threw  each 
package  of  provision  from  the  floe  up  to  the  ice-foot, 


MAKING      THE      LAND-ICE,     (CLIMBING.) 


which  was  eight  or  nine  feet  above  them.  Morton 
then  climbed  up  with  the  aid  of  the  sledge,  which  they 
converted  into  a  ladder  for  the  occasion.  He  then 
pulled  the  dogs  up  by  the  lines  fastened  round  their 
bodies,  Hans  lending  a  helping  hand  and  then  climb- 
ing up  himself  They  then  drew  up  the  sledge.  The 
water  was  very  deep,  a  stone  the  size  of  Morton's  head 


288  THE     POLAR     TIDES. 


taking  twenty-eight  seconds  to  reach  the  bottom,  which 
was  seen  very  clearly. 

As  they  had  noticed  the  night  before,  the  ice-foot 
lost  its  good  character  on  reaching  the  cape,  becoming 
a  mere  narrow  ledge  hugging  the  cliffs,  and  looking  as 
if  it  might  crumble  off  altogether  into  the  water  at 
any  moment.  Morton  was  greatly  afraid  there  would 
be  no  land-ice  there  at  all  when  they  came  back. 
Hans  and  he  thought  they  might  pass  on  by  climbing 
along  the  face  of  the  crag;  in  fact  they  tried  a  path 
about  fifty  feet  high,  but  it  grew  so  narrow  that  they 
saw  they  could  not  get  the  dogs  past  with  their  sledge- 
load  of  provisions.  He  therefore  thought  it  safest  to 
leave  some  food,  that  they  might  not  starve  on  the 
return  in  case  the  ice-foot  should  disappear.  He  ac- 
cordingly cached  enough  provision  to  last  them  back, 
\\ith  four  days'  dog-meat. 

At  the  pitch  of  the  cape  the  ice-ledge  was  hardly 
three  feet  wide ;  and  they  were  obliged  to  unloose  the 
dogs  and  drive  them  forward  alone.  Hans  and  he 
then  tilted  the  sledge  up,  and  succeeded  in  carrying  it 
past  the  narrowest  place.  The  ice-foot  was  firm  under 
their  tread,  though  it  crumbled  on  the  verge. 

The  tide  was  running  very  fast.  The  pieces  of 
heaviest  draught  floated  by  nearly  as  fast  as  the  ordi- 
nary walk  of  a  man,  and  the  surface-joieces  passed 
them  much  faster,  at  least  four  knots.  On  their 
examination  the  night  before,  the  tide  was  from  the 
north,  running  southward,  carrying  very  little  ice. 
The  ice  which  was  now  moving  so  fast  to  northward 


CAPES     JACKSON     AND     MORRIS.  289 


seemed  to  be  the  broken  land-ice  around  the  cape,  and 
the  loose  edge  of  the  south  ice.  The  thermometer  in 
the  water  gave  +36°,  seven  degrees  above  the  freezing- 
point  of  sea-water  at  Rensselaer  Harbor. 

They  now  yoked  in  the  dogs,  and  set  forward  over 
the  worst  sort  of  mashed  ice  for  three-quarters  of  a 
mile.  After  passing  the  cape,  they  looked  ahead,  and 
saw  nothing  but  open  water.  The  land  to  the  west- 
ward seemed  to  overlap  the  land  on  which  they  stood, 
a  long  distance  ahead :  all  the  space  between  was  open 
water.  After  turning  the  cape, — that  which  is  marked 
on  the  chart  as  Cape  Andrew  Jackson, — they  found  a 
good  smooth  ice-foot  in  the  entering  curve  of  a  bay, 
since  named  after  the  great  financier  of  the  American 
Revolution,  Robert  Morris.  It  was  glassy  ice,  and  the 
dogs  ran  on  it  full  speed.  Here  the  sledge  made  at 
least  six  miles  an  hour.  It  was  the  best  day's  travel 
they  made  on  the  journey. 

After  passing  four  bluffs  at  the  bottom  and  sides  of 
the  bay,  the  land  grew  lower;  and  presently  a  long  low 
country  opened  on  the  land-ice,  a  wide  plain  between 
large  headlands,  with  rolling  hills  through  it.  A  flock 
of  Brent  geese  were  coming  down  the  valley  of  this  low 
land,  and  ducks  were  seen  in  crowds  upon  the  open 
water.  When  they  saw  the  geese  first,  they  were  ap- 
parently coming  from  the  eastward;  they  made  a  curve 
out  to  seaward,  and  then,  turning,  flew  far  ahead  over 
the  plain,  until  they  were  lost  to  view,  showing  that 
their  destination  was  inland.  The  general  line  of  flight 
of  the  flock  was  to  the  northeast.     Eiders  and  dove- 

VoL.  I.— 19 


290  THE      CHANNEL. 


kies  were  also  seen;  and  tern  were  very  numerous, 
hundreds  of  them  squeaUng  and  screeching  in  flocks. 
They  were  so  tame  that  they  came  within  a  few  yards 
of  the  party.  Flying  high  overhead,  their  notes  echo- 
ing from  the  rocks,  were  large  white  birds,  which  they 
took  for  burgomasters.  Ivory  gulls  and  moUemokes 
were  seen  farther  on.  They  did  not  lose  sight  of  the 
birds  after  this,  as  far  as  they  went.  The  ivory  gulls 
flew  very  high,  but  the  mollemokes  alit,  and  fed  on  the 
water,  flying  over  it  well  out  to  sea,  as  we  had  seen 
them  do  in  Baffin's  Bay.  Separate  from  these  flew  a 
dingy  bird  unknown  to  Morton.  Never  had  they  seen 
the  birds  so  numerous :  the  water  was  actually  black 
with  dovekies,  and  the  rocks  crowded.^*^^ 

The  part  of  the  channel  they  were  now  coasting  was 
narrower,  but  as  they  proceeded  it  seemed  to  widen 
again.  There  was  some  ice  arrested  by  a  bend  of  the 
channel  on  the  eastern  shore;  and,  on  reaching  a  low 
gravel  point,  they  saw  that  a  projection  of  land  shut 
them  in  just  ahead  to  the  north.  Upon  this  ice  nume- 
rous seal  were  basking,  both  the  netsik  and  ussuk. 

To  the  left  of  this,  toward  the  West  Land,  the  great 
channel  (Kennedy  Channel)  of  open  water  continued. 
There  was  broken  ice  floating  in  it,  but  with  passages 
fifteen  miles  in  width  and  perfectly  clear.  The  end  of 
the  point — "Gravel  Point,"  as  Morton  called  it — was 
covered  with  hummocks  and  broken  ice  for  about  two 
miles  from  the  water.  This  ice  was  worn  and  full  of 
gravel.  Six  miles  inland,  the  point  was  flanked  by 
mountains. 


FREE     OF     ICE. 


291 


A  little  higher  up,  they  noticed  that  the  pieces  of  ice 
in  the  middle  of  the  channel  were  moving  up,  while 
the  lumps  near  shore  were  floating  down.  The  channel 
was  completely  broken  up,  and  there  would  have  been 
no  difficulty  in  a  frigate  standing  anywhere.     The  little 


APPEARANCE       OF       CI 


brig,  or  "a  fleet  of  her  like,"  could  have  beat  easily  to 
the  northward. 

The  wind  blew  strong  from  the  north,  and  continued 
to  do  so  for  three  days,  sometimes  blowing  a  gale,  and 
very  damp,  the  tops  of  the  hills  becoming  fixed  with 
dark  foggy  clouds.  The  damp  falling  mist  prevented 
their  seeing  any  distance.     Yet  they  saw  no  ice  borne 


202  BIRDS     AND     PLANTS. 


down  from  the  northward  during  all  this  time;  and, 
what  was  more  curious,  they  found,  on  their  return 
south,  that  no  ice  had  been  sent  down  during  the  gale. 
On  the  contrary,  they  then  found  the  channel  perfectly 
clear  from  shore  to  shore. 

June  22,  Thursday. — They  camped  at  8.30  A.  M.,  on 
a  ledge  of  low  rock,  having  made  in  the  day's  journey 
forty-eight  miles  in  a  straight  line.  Morton  thought 
they  were  at  least  forty  miles  up  the  channel.  The  ice 
was  here  moving  to  the  southward  with  the  tide.  The 
channel  runs  northwardly,  and  is  about  thirty-five 
miles  wide.  The  opposite  coast  appears  straight,  but 
still  sloping,  its  head  being  a  little  to  the  west  of  north. 
This  shore  is  high,  with  lofty  mountains  of  sugar-loaf 
shape  at  the  tops,  which,  set  together  in  ranges,  looked 
like  piles  of  stacked  cannon-balls.  It  was  too  cloudy 
for  observations  when  they  camped,  but  they  obtained 
several  higher  up.  The  eider  were  in  such  numbers 
here  that  Hans  fired  into  the  flocks,  and  killed  two 
birds  with  one  shot. 

June  23,  Friday. — In  consequence  of  the  gale  of 
wind,  they  did  not  start  till  12.30  midnight.  They 
made  about  eight  miles,  and  were  arrested  by  the 
broken  ice  of  the  shore.  Their  utmost  efibrts  could 
not  pass  the  sledge  over  this;  so  they  tied  the  dogs  to 
it,  and  went  ahead  to  see  how  things  looked.  They 
found  the  land-ice  growing  worse  and  worse,  until  at 
last  it  ceased,  and  the  water  broke  directly  against  the 
steep  clifis. 

They  continued  their   course   overland   until   they 


"BEAR      AND      CUB.  293 


came  to  the  entrance  of  a  bay,  whence  they  could  see 
a  cape  and  an  island  to  the  northward.  They  then 
turned  back,  seeing  numbers  of  birds  on  their  way, 
and,  leaving  the  dogs  to  await  their  return,  prepared 
to  proceed  on  foot. 

This  spot  was  the  greenest  that  they  had  seen  since 
leaving  the  headlands  of  the  channel.  Snow  patched  the 
valleys,  and  water  was  trickling  from  the  rocks.  Early 
as  it  was,  Hans  was  able  to  recognise  some  of  the  flower- 
life.  He  eat  of  the  young  shoots  of  the  lychnis,  and 
brought  home  to  me  the  dried  pod  (siliqua)  of  a  hes- 
peris,  which  had  survived  the  wear  and  tear  of  winter. 
Morton  was  struck  with  the  abundance  of  little  stone- 
crops,  "about  the  size  of  a  pea."  I  give  in  the  appendix 
his  scanty  list  of  recognised  but  not  collected  plants. 

June  23,  24,  Friday,  Saturday. — At  3  a.m.  they 
started  again,  carrying  eight  pounds  of  pemmican  and 
two  of  bread,  besides  the  artificial  horizon,  sextant,  and 
compass,  a  rifle,  and  the  boat-hook.  After  two  hours' 
walking  the  travel  improved,  and,  on  nearing  a  plain 
about  nine  miles  from  where  they  had  left  the  sledge, 
they  were  rejoiced  to  see  a  she-bear  and  her  cub. 
They  had  tied  the  dogs  securely,  as  they  thought ;  but 
Toodla  and  four  others  had  broken  loose  and  followed 
them,  making  their  appearance  within  an  hour.  They 
were  thus  able  to  attack  the  bear  at  once. 

Hans,  who  to  the  simplicity  of  an  Esquimaux  united 
the  shrewd  observation  of  a  hunter,  describes  the  con- 
test which  followed  so  graphically  that  I  try  to  engraft 
some  of  the  quaintness  of  his  description  upon   Mr. 


294  THE     HUNT. 


Morton's  report.  The  bear  fled;  but  the  little  one 
being  unable  either  to  keep  ahead  of  the  dogs  or  to 
keep  pace  with  her,  she  turned  back,  and,  putting  her 
head  under  its  haunches,  threw  it  some  distance  ahead. 
The  cub  safe  for  the  moment,  she  would  wheel  round 
and  face  the  dogs,  so  as  to  give  it  a  chance  to  run 
aw^ay ;  but  it  always  stopped  just  as  it  alighted,  till 
she  came  up  and  threw  it  ahead  again  :  it  seemed  to 
expect  her  aid,  and  would  not  go  on  without  it. 
Sometimes  the  mother  would  run  a  few  yards  ahead, 
as  if  to  coax  the  young  one  up  to  her,  and  when  the 
dogs  came  up  she  would  'turn  on  them  and  drive 
them  back ;  then,  as  they  dodged  her  blows,  she  would 
rejoin  the  cub  and  push  it  on,  sometimes  putting  her 
head  under  it,  sometimes  catching  it  in  her  mouth  by 
the  nape  of  the  neck. 

For  a  time  she  managed  her  retreat  with  great 
celerity,  leaving  the  two  men  far  in  the  rear.  They 
had  engaged  her  on  the  land-ice ;  but  she  led  the  dogs 
in-shore,  up  a  small  stony  valley  which  opened  into 
the  interior.  But,  after  she  had  gone  a  mile  and  a 
half,  her  pace  slackened,  and,  the  little  one  being  jaded, 
she  soon  came  to  a  halt. 

The  men  were  then  only  half  a  mile  behind;  and, 
running  at  full  speed,  they  soon  came  up  to  where  the 
dogs  were  holding  her  at  bay.  The  fight  was  now  a 
desperate  one.  The  mother  never  went  more  than  two 
yards  ahead,  constantly  looking  at  the  cub.  When  the 
dogs  came  near  her,  she  would  sit  upon  her  haunches 
and  take  the  little  one  between  her  hind  legs,  fighting 


THE     DEATH.  295 


the  dogs  with  her  paws,  and  roaring  so  that  she  could 
have  been  heard  a  mile  off.  "Never,"  said  Morton, 
"was  an  animal  more  distressed."  She  would  stretch 
her  neck  and  snap  at  the  nearest  dog  with  her  shining 
teeth,  whirling  her  paws  like  the  arms  of  a  windmill. 
If  she  missed  her  aim,  not  daring  to  pursue  one  dog 
lest  the  others  should  harm  the  cub,  she  would  give  a 
great  roar  of  baffled  rage,  and  go  on  pamng,  and  snap- 
ping, and  facing  the  ring,  grinning  at  them  with  her 
mouth  stretched  wide. 

When  the  men  came  up,  the  little  one  was  perhaps 
rested,  for  it  was  able  to  turn  round  with  her  dam,  no 
matter  how  quick  she  moved,  so  as  to  keep  ahvajs 
in  front  of  her  belly.  The  five  dogs  were  all  the  time 
frisking  about  her  actively,  tormenting  her  like  so 
many  gad-flies ;  indeed,  they  made  it  difficult  to  draw 
a  bead  on  at  her  without  killing  them.  But  Hans, 
lying  on  his  elbow,  took  a  quiet  aim  and  shot  her 
through  the  head.  She  dropped  and  rolled  over  dead 
without  moving  a  muscle. 

The  dogs  sprang  toward  her  at  once ;  but  the  cub 
jumped  upon  her  body  and  reared  up,  for  the  first 
time  growling  hoarsely.  They  seemed  quite  afraid 
of  the  little  creature,  she  fought  so  actively  and  made 
so  much  noise ;  and,  while  tearing  mouthful s  of  hair 
from  the  dead  mother,  they  would  spring  aside  the 
minute  the  cub  turned  toward  them.  The  men  drove 
the  dogs  ofi"  for  a  time,  but  were  obliged  to  shoot  the 
cub  at  last,  as  she  would  not  quit  the  body. 

Hans   fired   into   her  head.     It  did  not  reach    the 


296  FRANKLIN     AND     LAFAYETTE. 


brain,  though  it  knocked  her  down ;  but  she  was  still 
able  to  climb  on  her  mother's  body  and  try  to  defend 
it  still,  "  her  mouth  bleeding  like  a  gutter-spout." 
They  were  obliged  to  despatch  her  with  stones. 

After  skinning  the  old  one  they  gashed  its  body,  and 
the  dogs  fed  upon  it  ravenously.  The  little  one  they 
cached  for  themselves  on  the  return ;  and,  with  diffi- 
culty taking  the  dogs  off,  pushed  on,  crossing  a  small 
bay  which  extended  from  the  level  ground  and  had 
still  some  broken  ice  upon  it.  Hans  was  tired  out,  and 
was  sent  on  shore  to  follow  the  curve  of  the  bay,  where 
the  road  was  easier. 

The  ice  over  the  shallow  bay  which  Morton  crossed 
was  hummocked,  with  rents  through  it,  making  very 
hard  travel.  He  walked  on  over  this,  and  saw  an 
opening  not  quite  eight  miles  across,  separating  the  two 
islands,  which  I  have  named  after  Sir  John  Franklin 
and  his  comrade  Captain  Crozier.  He  had  seen  them 
before  from  the  entrance  of  the  larger  bay, — Lafayette 
Bay, — but  had  taken  them  for  a  single  island,  the  chan- 
nel between  them  not  being  then  in  sight.  As  he 
neared  the  northern  land,  at  the  east  shore  which  led 
to  the  cape,  (Cape  Constitution,)  which  terminated 
his  labors,  he  found  only  a  very  small  ice-foot,  under 
the  lee  of  the  headland  and  crushed  up  against  the 
side  of  the  rock.  He  went  on;  but  the  strip  of 
land-ice  broke  more  and  more,  until  about  a  mile 
from  the  cape  it  terminated  altogether,  the  waves 
breaking  with  a  cross  sea  directly  against  the  cape. 
The  wind  had  moderated,  but  was  still  from  the  north, 


CAPE      CONSTITUTION. 


297 


and  the  current  ran  up  very  fast,  four  or  five  knots 
perhaps. 

The  cliffs  were  here  very  high :  at  a  short  distance 
they  seemed  about  two  thousand  feet;  but  the  crags  were 
so  overhanging  that  Morton  could  not  see  the  tops  as 


A     SKETCH. 


he  drew  closer.  The  echoes  were  confusing,  and  the 
clamor  of  half  a  dozen  ivory  gulls,  who  were  frightened 
from  their  sheltered  nooks,  was  multiplied  a  hundred- 
fold. The  moUemokes  were  still  numerous;  but  he  now 
saw  no  ducks. 

He  tried  to  pass  round  the  cape.     It  was  in  vain : 
there  was  no  ice-foot ;  and,  trying  his  best  to  ascend  the 


298  TEE     ANTARCTIC     FLAG. 


clifls,  he  could  get  up  but  a  few  hundred  feet.  Here  he 
fastened  to  his  walking-jDole  the  Grinnell  flag  of  the 
Antarctic — a  well-cherished  little  relic,  which  had  now 
followed  me  on  two  Polar  voyages.  This  flag  had  been 
saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  United  States  sloop-of-war 
Peacock,  when  she  stranded  off  the  Columbia  River  j  it 
had  accompanied  Commodore  Wilkes  in  his  far-southern 
discovery  of  an  Antarctic  continent.  It  was  now  its 
strange  destiny  to  float  over  the  highest  northern  land, 
not  only  of  America  but  of  our  globe.  Side  by  side 
with  this  were  our  Masonic  emblems  of  the  compass 
and  the  square.  He  let  them  fly  for  an  hour  and  a  half 
from  the  black  clifi"  over  the  dark  rock-shadowed 
waters,  which  rolled  up  and  broke  in  white  caps  at  its 
base. 

He  was  bitterly  disappointed  that  he  could  not  get 
round  the  cape,  to  see  whether  there  was  any  land 
beyond;  but  it  was  impossible.  Rejoining  Hans,  they 
supped  off  their  bread  and  pemmican,  and,  after  a  good 
nap,  started  on  their  return  on  Sunday,  the  25tli,  at 
1.30  P.M.  From  Thursday  night,  the  22d,  up  to  Sunday 
at  noon,  the  wind  ^ad  been  blowing  steadily  from  the 
north,  and  for  thirty-six  hours  of  the  time  it  blew  a 
gale.  But  as  he  returned,  he  remarked  that  the  more 
southern  ice  toward  Kennedy  Channel  w^as  less  than  it 
had  been  when  he  passed  up.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
channel  it  was  more  broken  than  when  he  saw  it 
before,  but  the  passage  above  was  clear.  About  half- 
way between  the  farthest  j)oint  which  he  reached  and 
the  channel,  the  few  small  lumps  of  ice  which  he  ob- 


TIDES MOUNT      PARRY.  299 


served  floating — they  were  not  more  than  half  a  dozen 
— were  standing  with  the  wind  to  the  southward,  while 
the  shore-current  or  tide  was  driving  north. 

His  journal  of  Monday,  26th,  says,  "As  far  as  I  could 
see,  the  open  passages  were  fifteen  miles  or  more  wide, 
with  sometimes  mashed  ice  separating  them.  But  it  is 
all  small  ice,  and  I  think  it  either  drives  out  to  the 
open  space  to  the  north,  or  rots  and  sinks,*  as  I  could 
see  none  ahead  to  the  far  north. "^"^ 

The  coast  after  passing  the  cape,  he  thought,  must 
trend  to  the  eastward,  as  he  could  at  no  time  when 
below  it  see  any  land  beyond.  But  the  west  coast  still 
opened  to  the  north :  he  traced  it  for  about  fifty  miles. 
The  day  was  very  clear,  and  he  was  able  to  follow  the 
range  of  mountains  which  crowns  it  much  farther. 
They  were  very  high,  rounded  at  their  summits,  not 
peaked  like  those  immediately  abreast  of  him;  though, 
as  he  remarked,  this  apparent  change  of  their  character 
might  be  referred  to  distance,  for  their  undulations  lost 
themselves  like  a  wedge  in  the  northern  horizon. 

His  highest  station  of  outlook  at  the  point  where  his 
progress  was  arrested  he  supposed  to  be  about  three 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  From  this  point,  some  six 
degrees  to  the  west  of  north,  he  remarked  in  the 
farthest  distance  a  peak  truncated  at  its  top  like  the 
cliffs  of  Magdalena  Bay.  It  was  bare  at  its  summit, 
but    striated  vertically  with   protruding   ridges.     Our 

*  As  I  quote  his  own  words,  I  do  not  think  it  advisable  to  comment 
upon  his  view.  Ice  never  sinks  in  a  Ucjuid  of  the  same  density  as  that 
in  which  it  lormed. 


300        VICTORIA     AND     ALBERT     MOUNTAINS. 


united  estimate  assigned  to  it  an  elevation  of  from 
twenty-five  hundred  to  three  thousand  feet.  This  peak, 
the  most  remote  northern  land  known  upon  our  globe, 
takes  its  name  from  the  great  pioneer  of  Arctic  travel, 
Sir  Edward  Parry. 


MOUNT     PARRY    AND     VICTORIA     RANGE,    (ROUGH     SKETCH     BY     MORTON.) 


The  range  with  which  it  was  connected  was  much 
higher,  Mr.  Morton  thought,  than  any  we  had  seen  on 
the  southern  or  Greenland  side  of  the  bay.  The  sum- 
mits were  generally  rounded,  resembling,  to  use  his 
own  expression,  a  succession  of  sugar-loaves  and  stacked 
cannon-balls  declining  slowly  in  the  perspective.  I 
have  named  these  mountains  after  the  name  of  the  lady 


GENERAL     REMARKS.  301 


sovereign  under  whose  orders  Sir  John  Franklin  sailed, 
and  the  prince  her  consort.  They  are  similar  in  their 
features  to  those  of  Spitzbergen;  and,  though  I  am 
aware  how  easy  it  is  to  be  deceived  in  our  judgment  of 
distant  heights,  I  am  satisfied  from  the  estimate  of  Mr. 
Morton,  as  well  as  from  our  measurements  of  the  same 
range  farther  to  the  south,  that  they  equal  them  in 
elevation,  2500  feet. 

Two  large  indentations  broke  in  upon  the  uniform 
margin  of  the  coast.  Everywhere  else  the  spinal  ridge 
seemed  unbroken.     Mr.  Morton  saw  no  ice. 


It  will  be  seen  by  the  abstract  of  our  "  field-notes" 
in  the  Appendix,  as  well  as  by  an  analysis  of  the 
results  which  I  have  here  rendered  nearly  in  the  very 
words  of  Mr.  Morton,  that,  after  travelling  due  north 
over  a  solid  area  choked  with  bergs  and  frozen  fields, 
he  was  startled  by  the  growing  weakness  of  the  ice : 
its  surface  became  rotten,  and  the  snow  wet  and  pulpy. 
His  dogs,  seized  with  terror,  refused  to  advance.  Then 
for  the  first  time  the  fact  broke  upon  him,  that  a  long 
dark  band  seen  to  the  north  beyond  a  protruding  cape 
—Cape  Andrew  Jackson — was  water.  With  danger 
and  difficulty  he  retraced  his  steps,  and,  reaching  sound 
ice,  made  good  his  landing  on  a  new  coast. 

The  journeys  which  I  had  made  myself,  and  those 
of  my  different  parties,  had  shown  that  an  unbroken 
surface  of  ice  covered  the  entire  sea  to  the  east,  west, 
and  south.  From  the  southernmost  ice,  seen  by  Dr. 
Hayes  only  a  few  weeks  before,  to  the  region  of  this 


302  THE      BIRDS     APPEAR. 


mysterious  water,  was,  as  the  crow  flies,  one  hundred 
and  six  miles.  But  for  the  unusual  sight  of  birds  and 
the  unmistakable  giving  way  of  the  ice  beneath  them, 
they  would  not  have  believed  in  the  evidence  of  eye- 
sight.    Neither  Hans  nor  Morton  was  prepared  for  it. 

Landing  on  the  cape,  and  continuing  their  explora- 
tion, new  phenomena  broke  upon  them.  They  were 
on  the  shores  of  a  channel,  so  open  that  a  frigate,  or  a 
fleet  of  frigates,  might  have  sailed  up  it.  The  ice, 
already  broken  and  decayed,  formed  a  sort  of  horse- 
shoe-shaped beach,  against  which  the  waves  broke  in 
surf.  As  they  travelled  north,  this  channel  expanded 
into  an  iceless  area ;  "  for  four  or  five  small  pieces" — 
lumps — were  all  that  could  be  seen  over  the  entire 
surface  of  its  white-capped  waters.  Viewed  from  the 
clifls,  and  taking  thirty-six  miles  as  the  mean  radius 
open  to  reliable  survey,  this  sea  had  a  justly-estimated 
extent  of  more  than  four  thousand  square  miles. 

Animal  life,  which  had  so  long  been  a  stranger  to  us 
to  the  south,  now  burst  upon  them.  At  Rensselaer 
Harbor,  except  the  Netsik  seal  or  a  rarely-encountered 
Harelda,  we  had  no  life  available  for  the  hunt.  But 
here  the  Brent  goose,  (J.nas  hernicla,)  the  eider,  and 
the  king  duck,  were  so  crowded  together  that  our 
Esquimaux  killed  two  at  a  shot  with  a  single  rifle-ball. 

The  Brent  goose  had  not  been  seen  before  since 
entering  Smith's  Straits.  It  is  well  known  to  the 
Polar  traveller  as  a  migratory  bird  of  the  American 
continent.  Like  the  others  of  the  same  family,  it 
feeds    upon    vegetable    matter,    generally    on    marine 


THE     VEGETATION.  303 


plants  with  their  adherent  molluscous  hfe.  It  is  rarely 
or  never  seen  in  the  interior,  and  from  its  habits  may 
be  regarded  as  singularly  indicative  of  open  water. 
The  flocks  of  this  bird,  easily  distinguished  by  their 
wedge-shaped  line  of  flight,  now  crossed  the  water 
obliquely,  and  disappeared  over  the  land  to  the  north 
and  east.  I  had  shot  these  birds  on  the  coast  of  Wel- 
lington Channel  in  latitude  74°  50',  nearly  six  de- 
grees to  the  south :  they  were  then  flying  in  the  same 
direction. 

The  rocks  on  shore  were  crowded  with  sea-swal- 
lows, [Sterna  Arctica,)  birds  whose  habits  require  open 
water,  and  they  were  already  breeding. 

It  may  interest  others  besides  the  naturalist  to  state, 
that  all  of  these  birds  occupied  the  southern  limits  of 
the  channel  for  the  first  few  miks  after  reaching  open 
water,  but,  as  the  party  continued  their  progress  to  the 
north,  they  disappeared,  and  marine  birds  took  their 
place.  The  gulls  were  now  represented  by  no  less 
than  four  species.  The  kittiwakes  [Lanes  tricJac- 
tylis) — reminding  Morton  of  "old  times  in  Baffin's 
Bay" — were  again  stealing  fish  from  the  water,  pro- 
bably the  small  whiting,  [Merlatigus  Polaris,)  and  their 
grim  cousins,  the  burgomasters,  enjoying  the  dinner 
thus  provided  at  so  little  cost  to  themselves.  It  was 
a  picture  of  life  all  round. 

Of  the  flora  and  its  indications  I  can  say  but  little ; 
still  less  can  I  feel  justified  in  drawing  from  them  any 
thermal  inferences.  The  season  was  too  early  for  a 
display  of  Arctic  vegetation ;   and,  in  the  absence  of 


304  THE      PETREL. 


specimens,  I  am  unwilling  to  adopt  the  observations 
of  Mr.  Morton,  who  was  no  botanist.  It  seems  clear, 
however,  that  many  flowering  plants,  at  least  as  de- 
veloped as  those  of  Rensselaer  Harbor,  had  already 
made  themselves  recognisable ;  and,  strange  to  say, 
the  only  specimen  brought  back  was  a  crucifer,  [Hes- 
peris  pygmcBa — Durand,)  the  siliquce  of  which,  still 
containing  seed,  had  thus  survived  the  winter,  to  give 
evidence  of  its  perfected  growth.  This  plant  I  have 
traced  to  the  Great  Glacier,  thus  extending  its  range 
from  the  South  Greenland  zone.  It  has  not,  I  believe, 
been  described  at  Upernavik.^^^^ 

It  is  another  remarkable  fact  that,  as  they  continued 
their  journey,  the  land-ice  and  snow,  which  had  served 
as  a  sort  of  pathway  for  their  dogs,  crumbled  and 
melted,  and  at  last  ceased  altogether;  so  that,  during 
the  final  stages  of  their  progress,  the  sledge  was  ren- 
dered useless,  and  Morton  found  himself  at  last  toil- 
ing over  rocks  and  along  the  beach  of  a  sea,  which, 
like  the  familiar  waters  of  the  south,  dashed  in  waves 
at  his  feet. 

Here  for  the  first  time  he  noticed  the  Arctic  Petrel, 
{Pi'ocellaria  glacialis,)  a  fact  which  shows  the  accuracy 
of  his  observation,  though  he  was  then  unaware  of  its 
importance.  This  bird  had  not  been  met  with  since 
we  left  the  North  Water  of  the  English  whalers,  more 
than  two  hundred  miles  south  of  the  position  on  which 
he  stood.  Its  food  is  essentially  marine,  the  acalepha3, 
&c.  &c. ;  and  it  is  seldom  seen  in  numbers,  except  in  the 
highways  of  open  water  frequented  by  the  whale  and 


CAPE     CONSTITUTION.  305 


the  larger  representatives  of  ocean  life.  They  were  in 
numbers,  flitting  and  hovering  over  the  crests  of  the 
waves,  like  their  relatives  of  kinder  climates,  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  Pigeons,  Mother  Carey's  Chickens,  and 
the  petrels  everywhere  else. 

As  Morton,  leaving  Hans  and  his  dogs,  passed  be- 
tween Sir  John  Franklin  Island  and  the  narrow  beach- 
line,  the  coast  became  more  wall-like,  and  dark  masses 
of  porphyritic  rock  abutted  into  the  sea.  With  grow- 
ing difficulty,  he  managed  to  climb  from  rock  to  rock, 
in  hopes  of  doubling  the  promontory  and  sighting  the 
coasts  beyond,  but  the  water  kept  encroaching  more 
and  more  on  his  track. 

It  must  have  been  an  imposing  sight,  as  he  stood  at 
this  termination  of  his  journey,  looking  out  upon  the 
great  waste  of  waters  before  him.  Not  a  "speck  of 
ice,"  to  use  his  own  words,  could  be  seen.  There,  from 
a  height  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet,  which  com- 
manded a  horizon  of  almost  forty  miles,  his  ears  were 
gladdened  with  the  novel  music  of  dashing  waves; 
and  a  surf,  breaking  in  among  the  rocks  at  his  feet, 
stayed  his  farther  progress. 

Beyond  this  cape  all  is  surmise.  The  high  ridges 
to  the  northwest  dwindled  off  into  low  blue  knobs, 
which  blended  finally  with  the  air.  Morton  called 
the  cape,  which  baffled  his  labors,  after  his  commander ; 
but  I  have  given  it  the  more  enduring  name  of  Cape 
Constitution. 

The  homeward  journey,  as  it  was  devoted  to  the 
completion  of  his  survey  and  developed  no  new  facts, 

Vol.  I.— 20 


306  THEORIES     OF     AN     OPEN     SEA. 


I  need  not  give.  But  I  am  reluctant  to  close  my  notice 
of  this  discovery  of  an  open  sea,  without  adding  that 
the  details  of  Mr.  Morton's  narrative  harmonized  with 
the  observations  of  all  our  party.  I  do  not  propose  to 
discuss  here  the  causes  or  conditions  of  this  pheno- 
menon. How  far  it  may  extend,  —  whether  it  exists 
simply  as  a  feature  of  the  immediate  region,  or  as  part 
of  a  great  and  unexplored  area  communicating  with  a 
Polar  basin, — and  what  may  be  the  argument  in  favor 
of  one  or  the  other  hypothesis,  or  the  explanation 
which  reconciles  it  with  established  laws, — may  be 
questions  for  men  skilled  in  scientific  deductions.  Mine 
has  been  the  more  humble  duty  of  recording  what  we 
saw.  Coming  as  it  did,  a  mysterious  fluidity  in  the 
midst  of  vast  plains  of  sohd  ice,  it  was  well  calculated 
to  arouse  emotions  of  the  highest  order;  and  I  do  not 
believe  there  was  a  man  among  us  who  did  not  long  for 
the  means  of  embarking  upon  its  bright  and  lonely 
waters.  But  he  who  may  be  content  to  follow  our 
story  for  the  next  few  months  will  feel,  as  we  did, 
that  a  controlling  necessity  made  the  desire  a  fruitless 
one. 

An  open  sea  near  the  Pole,  or  even  an  open  Polar 
basin,  has  been  a  topic  of  theory  for  a  long  time,  and 
has  been  shadowed  forth  to  some  extent  by  actual  or 
supposed  discoveries.  As  far  back  as  the  days  of 
Barentz,  in  1596,  without  referring  to  the  earher  and 
more  uncertain  chronicles,  water  was  seen  to  the  east- 
ward of  the  northernmost  cape  of  Novaia  Zemlia;  and, 
until  its  hmited  extent  was  defined  by  direct  observa- 


ILLUSORY     DISCOVERIES.  807 


tion,  it  was  assumed  to  be  the  sea  itself.  The  Dutch 
fishermen  above  and  around  Spitzbergen  pushed  their 
adventurous  cruises  through  the  ice  into  open  spaces 
varjdng  in  size  and  form  with  the  season  and  the 
winds;  and  Dr.  Scoresby,  a  venerated  authority,  alludes 
to  such  vacancies  in  the  floe  as  pointing  in  argument 
to  a  freedom  of  movement  from  the  north,  inducing 
open  water  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pole.  Baron 
Wrangell,  when  forty  miles  from  the  coast  of  Arctic 
Asia,  saw,  as  he  thought,  a  "vast,  illimitable  ocean," 
forgetting  for  the  moment  how  narrow  are  the  limits 
of  human  vision  on  a  sphere.  So,  still  more  recently. 
Captain  Penny  proclaimed  a  sea  in  "Welhngton  Sound, 
on  the  very  spot  where  Sir  Edward  Belcher  has  since 
left  his  frozen  ships;  and  my  predecessor  Captain  Ingle- 
field,  from  the  mast-head  of  his  little  vessel,  announced 
an  "open  Polar  basin,"  but  fifteen  miles  off"  from  the 
ice  which  arrested  our  progress  the  next  year. 

All  these  illusory  discoveries  were  no  doubt  chro- 
nicled with  perfect  integrity ;  and  it  may  seem  to  others, 
as  since  I  have  left  the  field  it  sometimes  does  to  my- 
self, that  my  own,  though  on  a  larger  scale,  may  one 
day  pass  within  the  same  category.  Unlike  the  others, 
however,  that  which  I  have  ventured  to  call  an  open 
sea  has  been  travelled  for  many  miles  along  its  coast, 
and  was  viewed  from  an  elevation  of  five  hundred  and 
eighty  feet,  still  without  a  limit,  moved  by  a  heavy 
swell,  free  of  ice,  and  dashing  in  surf  against  a  rock- 
bound  shore. 

It  is  impossible,  in  reviewing  the  facts  which  con- 


CHAPTER  XXrV. 

PROSPECTS  —  SPECULATIONS  —  THE  ARGUMENT — THE  CONCLUSION — 
THE  RECONNOISSANCE  —  THE  SCHEME  —  EQUIPMENT  OP  BOAT 
PARTY  —  EIDER  ISLAND  —  HANS  ISLAND  —  THE  CORMORANT  GULL 
—  SENTIMENT  —  OUR  CHARTS  —  CAPTAIN  INGLEPIELD  —  DISCRE- 
PANCIES— A   GALE  —  FAST   TO   A  FLOE. 

gttm^t  la  xmt\  iwtfe  |sIan!J)f. 

All  the  sledge-parties  were  now  once  more  aboard 
ship,  and  the  season  of  Arctic  travel  had  ended.  For 
more  than  two  months  we  had  been  imprisoned  in  ice, 
and  throughout  all  that  period,  except  during  the  en- 
forced holiday  of  the  midwinter  darkness  or  while 
repairing  from  actual  disaster,  had  been  constantly  in 
the  field.  The  summer  was  wearing  on,  but  still  the 
ice  did  not  break  up  as  it  should.  As  far  as  we  could 
see,  it  remained  inflexibly  solid  between  us  and  the 
North  Water  of  Baffin's  Bay.  The  questions  and 
speculations  of  those  around  me  began  to  show  that 
they  too  had  anxious  thoughts  for  the  coming  year. 
There  was  reason  for  all  our  apprehensions,  as  some 
of  my  notes  may  show. 

310 


THE     ARGUMENT.  311 


"July  8,  Saturday. — Penny  saw  water  to  the  south- 
ward in  Barrow's  Straits  as  early  as  June ;  and  by  the 
1st  of  July  the  leads  were  within  a  mile  of  his  harbor 
in  Wellington  Channel.  Dr.  Sutherland  says  he  could 
have  cut  his  way  out  by  the  15th.  Austin  was  not 
liberated  till  the  10th  of  August;  but  the  water  had 
worked  up  to  within  three  miles  and  a  half  of  him  as 
early  as  the  1st,  having  advanced  twenty  miles  in  the 
preceding  month.  If,  now,  we  might  assume  that  the 
ice  between  us  and  the  nearest  water  would  give  way 
as  rapidly  as  it  did  in  these  two  cases, — an  assumption, 
by-the-way,  which  the  difference  of  the  localities  is  all 
against, — the  mouth  of  our  harbor  should  be  reached 
in  fifty  days,  or  by  the  last  day  of  August ;  and  after 
that,  several  days  or  perhaps  weeks  must  go  by  before 
the  inside  ice  yields  around  our  brig. 

"I  know  by  experience  how  soon  the  ice  breaks  up 
after  it  once  begins  to  go,  and  I  hardly  think  that  it 
can  continue  advancing  so  slowly  much  longer.  In- 
deed, I  look  for  it  to  open,  if  it  opens  at  all,  about  the 
beginning  of  September  at  farthest,  somewhere  near 
the  date  of  Sir  James  Ross's  liberation  at  Leopold. 
But  then  I  have  to  remember  that  I  am  much  farther 
to  the  north  than  my  predecessors,  and  that  by  the 
28th  of  last  August  I  had  already,  after  twenty  days 
of  unremitting  labor,  forced  the  brig  nearly  forty  miles 
through  the  pack,  and  that  the  pack  began  to  close  on 
us  only  six  days  later,  and  that  on  the  7th  of  Septem- 
ber we  were  fairly  frozen  in.     Yet  last  summer  was  a 


312  THE      CONCLUSION". 


most  favorable  one  for  ice-melting.  Putting  all  this 
together,  it  looks  as  if  the  winter  must  catch  us  before 
we  can  get  halfway  through  the  pack,  even  though 
we  should  begin  warping  to  the  south  at  the  earliest 
moment  that  we  can  hope  for  water. 

"It  is  not  a  pleasant  conclusion  of  the  argument; 
for  there  never  was,  and  I  trust  never  will  be,  a  party 
worse  armed  for  the  encounter  of  a  second  Arctic 
wintei".  We  have  neither  health,  fuel,  nor  provisions. 
Dr.  Hayes,  and  indeed  all  I  have  consulted  about  it 
indirectly,  despond  at  the  thought;  and  when  I  look 
round  upon  our  diseased  and  disabled  men,  and  think 
of  the  fearful  work  of  the  last  long  night,  I  am  tempted 
to  feel  as  they  do. 

"The  alternative  of  abandoning  the  vessel  at  this 
early  stage  of  our  absence,  even  were  it  possible,  would, 
I  feel,  be  dishonoring ;  but,  revolving  the  question  as 
one  of  practicability  alone,  I  would  not  undertake  it. 
In  the  first  place,  how  are  we  to  get  along  with  our 
sick  and  newly-amputated  men?  It  is  a  dreary  dis- 
tance at  the  best  to  Upernavik  or  Beechy  Island,  our 
only  seats  of  refuge,  and  a  precarious  traverse  if  we 
were  all  of  us  fit  for  moving ;  but  we  are  hardly  one- 
half  in  efficiency  of  what  we  count  in  number.  Be- 
sides, how  can  I  desert  the  brig  while  there  is  still  a 
chance  of  saving  her?  There  is  no  use  of  noting 
pros  and  cons :  my  mind  is  made  up ;  I  will  not 
do  it. 

"But  I  must  examine  this  ice-field  for  myself  I 
have   been    maturing    through    the    last    fortnight    a 


THE     RECONNOISSANCE.  313 


scheme  of  relief,  based  upon  a  communication  with 
the  English  squadron  to  the  south,  and  to-morrow  I 
set  out  to  reconnoitre.  Hans  will  go  with  me.  We 
will  fit  out  our  poor  travel-worn  dogs  with  canvas 
shoes,  and  cross  the  floes  to  the  true  water-edge,  or  at 
least  be  satisfied  that  it  is  impossible.  ^He  sees  best 
who  uses  his  own  eyes.'  After  that  I  have  my  course 
resolved  on. 

"July  11,  Tuesday. — We  got  back  last  night:  a 
sixty  miles'  journey, — comfortless  enough,  with  only 
three  hours'  sleep  on  the  ice.  For  thirty-five  miles 
south  the  straits  are  absolutely  tight.  Off  Refuge  Inlet 
and  Esquimaux  Point  we  found  driving  leads;  but 
between  these  points  and  the  brig,  not  a  crack.  I 
pushed  the  dogs  over  the  drift-ice,  and,  after  a  fair 
number  of  mischances,  found  the  North  Water.  It 
was  flowing  and  free;  but  since  McGary  saw  it  last 
May  it  has  not  advanced  more  than  four  miles.  It 
would  be  absurd  at  this  season  of  the  year  to  attempt 
escaping  in  open  boats  with  this  ice  between  us  and 
water.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  reinforce  our 
energies  as  we  may,  and  look  the  worst  in  the  face. 

"In  view  of  these  contingencies,  I  have  determined 
to  attempt  in  person  to  communicate  with  Beechy 
Island,  or  at  least  make  the  efibrt.  If  I  can  reach 
Sir  Edward  Belcher's  squadron,  I  am  sure  of  all  I 
want.  I  will  take  a  light  whaleboat,  and  pick  my 
companions  for  a  journey  to  the  south  and  west.  I 
may  find  perhaps  the  stores  of  the  North  Star  at 
the  Wostenholm  Islands,  or  by  great  good  luck  come 


314  THE      SCHEME. 


across  some  passing  vessel  of  the  squadron,  and  make 
known  our  whereabouts  and  wants;  or,  failing  these, 
we  will  try  and  coast  it  along  to  Wellington  Channel. 

"A  depot  of  provisions  and  a  seaworthy  craft  large 
enough  to  carry  us, — if  I  had  these,  every  thing  would 
be  right.  Even  Sir  John  Boss's  launch,  the  Little 
Mary,  that  he  left  at  Union  Bay,  would  serve  our 
purpose.  K  I  had  her,  I  could  make  a  southern 
passage  after  the  fall  tides.  The  great  enemy  of  that 
season  is  the  young  shore-ice,  that  would  cut  through 
our  frail  boats  like  a  saw.  Or,  if  we  can  only  renew 
our  stock  of  provisions  for  the  winter,  we  may  await 
the  chances  of  next  year. 

"I  know  it  is  a  hazardous  venture,  but  it  is  a  neces- 
sary one,  and  under  the  circumstances  an  incumbent 
duty.  I  should  have  been  glad,  for  some  reasons,  if  the 
command  of  such  an  attempt  could  have  been  delegated 
to  a  subordinate;  but  I  feel  that  I  have  no  right  to 
devolve  this  risk  upon  another,  and  I  am,  besides,  the 
only  one  possessed  of  the  necessary  local  knowledge  of 
Lancaster  Sound  and  its  ice-movements. 

"As  a  prelude  to  this  solemn  undertaking,  I  met  my 
officers  in  the  evening,  and  showed  them  my  ice-charts ; 
explaining,  what  I  found  needed  little  explanation,  the 
prospect  immediately  before  us.  I  then  discussed  the 
probable  changes,  and,  giving  them  my  personal  opi- 
nion that  the  brig  might  after  all  be  liberated  at  a  late 
date,  I  announced  my  project.  I  will  not  say  how 
gratified  I  was  with  the  manner  in  which  they  received 
it.     It  struck  me  that  there  was  a  sense  of  personal 


EQUIPMENT  OF  BOAT  PARTY.      315 


relief  experienced  everywhere.  I  told  them  that  I  did 
not  choose  to  call  a  council  or  connect  any  of  them 
with  the  responsibilities  of  the  measure,  for  it  involved 
only  the  personal  safety  of  those  who  chose  to  share 
the  risk.  Full  instructions  were  then  left  for  their 
guidance  during  my  absence. 

"It  was  the  pleasantest  interview  I  ever  had  with 
my  associates.  I  believe  every  man  on  board  would 
have  volunteered,  but  I  confined  myself  to  five  active 
men:  James  McGary,  William  Morton,  George  Riley, 
Hans  Christian,  and  Thomas  Hickey,  make  up  my 
party." 

Our  equipment  had  been  getting  ready  for  some 
time,  though  without  its  object  being  understood  or 
announced.  The  boat  was  our  old  "Forlorn  Hope," 
mended  up  and  revised  for  her  new  destinies.  She  was 
twenty-three  feet  long,  had  six-feet-and-a-half  beam, 
and  was  two  feet  six  inches  deep.  Her  build  was  the 
characteristic  one  of  the  American  whaleboats,  too  flat- 
bottomed  for  ordinary  use,  but  much  improved  by  a 
false  keel,  which  Ohlsen  had  given  her  throughout  her 
entire  length.     After  all,  she  was  a  mere  cockle-shell. 

Her  great  fault  was  her  knife-like  bow,  which  cut 
into  the  short  seas  most  cruelly.  To  remedy  this  in 
some  degree,  and  to  make  up  for  her  want  of  height, 
I  devised  a  sort  of  half-deck  of  canvas  and  gum-elastic 
cloth,  extending  back  beyond  the  foremast,  and  con- 
tinued along  the  gunwale;  a  sort  of  weather-cloth, 
which  might  possibly  add  to  her  safety,  and  would 
certainly  make  her  more  comfortable  in  heavy  weather. 


316  PREPARATIONS. 


I  left  her  rig  altogether  to  McGary.  She  carried 
what  any  one  but  a  New  London  whaler  would  call  an 
inordinate  spread  of  canvas,  a  light  cotton  foresail  of 
twelve-feet  lift,  a  stouter  mainsail  of  fourteen-feet  lift 
with  a  spreet  eighteen  feet  long,  and  a  snug  little  jib. 
Her  masts  were  of  course  selected  very  carefully,  for 
we  could  not  carry  extra  sticks :  and  we  trusted  to  the 
good  old-fashioned  steering-oar  rather  than  a  rudder. 

Morton,  who  was  in  my  confidence  from  the  first, 
had  all  our  stores  ready.  We  had  no  game,  and  no 
meat  but  pork,  of  which  we  took  some  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.  I  wanted  pemmican,  and  sent  the  men 
out  in  search  of  the  cases  which  were  left  on  the  floe 
by  the  frozen  dep6i>party  during  the  rescue  of  last 
March;  but  they  could  not  find  a  trace  of  them,  or 
indeed  of  any  thing  else  we  abandoned  at  that  time :  a 
proof,  if  we  wanted  one,  how  blurred  all  our  faculties 
must  have  been  by  suffering,  for  we  marked  them  as 
we  thought  with  marvellous  care. 

We  lifted  our  boat  over  the  side  in  the  afternoon, 
and  floated  her  to  the  crack  at  the  Observatory  Island; 
mounted  her  there  on  our  large  sledge  "The  Faith," 
by  an  arrangement  of  cradles  of  Mr.  Ohlsen's  devising; 
stowed  in  every  thing  but  the  provisions,  and  carried 
her  on  to  the  bluff*  of  Sylvia  Headland :  and  the  next 
morning  a  party  consisting  of  all  but  the  sick  was 
detailed  to  transport  her  to  open  water;  while  McGary, 
Hans  and  myself  followed  with  our  St.  John's  sledge, 
carrying  our  stores. 

The  surface  of  the  ice  was  very  irregular  and  covered 


LITTLETON     ISLAND.  317 


with  water-pools.  Our  sledge  broke  down  with  re- 
peated strainings,  and  we  had  a  fatiguing  walk  of  thirty- 
six  miles  to  get  another.  We  passed  the  first  night 
wet  and  supperless  on  the  rocks;  a  bad  beginning,  for 
the  next  day  found  us  stiff  and  out  of  sorts. 

The  ice  continued  troublesome,  the  land-ices  swaying 
hither  and  thither  with  the  tide.  The  second  day's 
progress,  little  as  it  was,  cost  us  very  hard  labor.  But 
another  night  of  repose  on  the  rocks  refreshed  us;  so 
that,  the  day  after,  we  were  able  to  make  about  seven 
miles  along  the  ice-belt.  Two  days  more,  and  we  had 
carried  the  boat  across  twenty  miles  of  heavy  ice-floe, 
and  launched  her  in  open  water.  It  was  not  far  from 
the  hut  on  Esquimaux  Point. 

The  straits  were  much  clogged  with  drift,  but  I 
followed  the  coast  southward  without  difficulty.  We 
travelled  at  night,  resting  when  the  sun  was  hottest. 
I  had  every  reason  to  be  pleased  with  the  performance 
of  the  whaleboat,  and  the  men  kept  up  their  spirits 
well.  We  landed  at  the  point  where  we  left  our  life- 
boat a  year  ago,  and  to  our  great  joy  found  it  un- 
touched :  the  cove  and  inlet  were  still  fast  in  ice. 

We  now  neared  the  Littleton  Island  of  Captain 
Ingiefield,  where  a  piece  of  good  fortune  awaited  us. 
We  saw  a  number  of  ducks,  both  eiders  and  hareldas; 
and  it  occurred  to  me  that  by  tracking  their  flight  we 
should  reach  their  breeding-grounds.  There  was  no 
trouble  in  doing  so,  for  they  flew  in  a  bee-line  to  a 
group  of  rocky  islets,  above  which  the  whole  horizon  was 
studded  with  birds.      A  rugged  little  ledge,  which  I 


318 


EIDER     ISLAND. 


named  Eider  Island,  was  so  thickly  colonized  that  we 
could  hardly  walk  without  treading  on  a  nest.  We 
killed  with  guns  and  stones  over  two  hundred  birds  in 
a  few  hours. 


EIDER      ISLAND. 


It  was  near  the  close  of  the  breeding-season.  The 
nests  were  still  occupied  by  the  mother-birds,  but  many 
of  the  young  had  burst  the  shell,  and  were  nestling 
under  the  wing,  or  taking  their  first  lessons  in  the 
wat*^r-pools.  Some,  more  advanced,  were  already  in  the 
ice-sheltered  channels,  greedily  waiting  for  the  shell-fish 
and  sea-urchins,  which  the  old  bird  busied  herself  in 
procuring  for  them. 


THE     CORMORANT     GULL. 


319 


Near  by  was  a  low  and  isolated  rock-ledge,  which  we 
called  Hans  Island.  The  glaucous  gulls,  those  cormo- 
rants of  the  Arctic  seas,  had  made  it  their  peculiar 
homestead.  Their  progeny,  already  full-fledged  and 
voracious,  crowded  the  guano- whitened  rocks;  and  the 


5.     ^X^- 


GLAUCOUS     AND     TRIDACTYL      GULLS. 


mothers,  with  long  necks  and  gaping  yellow  bills, 
swooped  above  the  peaceful  shallows  of  the  eiders, 
carrying  off  the  young  birds,  seemingly  just  as  their 
wants  required.  A  more  domineering  and  insatiable 
rapacity  I  have  never  witnessed.  The  gull  would 
gobble  up  and  swallow  a  young  eider  in  less  time  than 


320  PREDATORY     INSTINCTS. 


it  takes  me  to  describe  the  act.  For  a  moment  you 
would  see  the  paddling  feet  of  the  poor  little  wretch 
protruding  from  the  mouth;  then  came  a  distension  of 
the  neck  as  it  descended  into  the  stomach;  a  few 
moments  more,  and  the  young  gulls  were  feeding  on 
the  ejected  morsel. 

The  mother-duck,  of  course  nearly  distracted,  battles, 
and  battles  well;  but  she  cannot  always  reassemble 
her  brood;  and  in  her  efforts  to  defend  one,  un- 
covering the  others,  I  have  seen  her  left  as  destitute 
as  Niobe.  Hans  tells  me  that  in  such  cases  she 
adopts  a  new  progeny;  and,  as  he  is  well  versed  in 
the  habits  of  the  bird,  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  his 
assertion. 

The  glaucous  is  not  the  only  predatory  gull  of  Smith's 
Strait.  In  fact,  all  the  Arctic  species,  without  including 
their  cousins  the  jagers,  have  the  propensity  strongly 
marked.  I  have  seen  the  ivory  gull,  the  most  beautiful 
and  snowy  St.  Agnes  of  the  ice-fields,  seize  our  wounded 
awks,  and,  after  a  sharp  battle,  carry  them  off  in  her 
talons.     A  novel  use  of  a  palmated  foot. 

I  could  sentimentalize  on  these  bereavements  of  the 
ducks  and  their  companions  in  diet :  it  would  be  only 
the  every-day  sermonizing  of  the  world.  But  while 
the  gulls  were  fattening  their  young  on  the  eiders,  the 
eiders  were  fattening  theirs  on  the  lesser  life  of  the  sea, 
and  we  were  as  busily  engaged  upon  both  in  true  pre- 
datory sympathy.  The  squab-gull  of  Hans  Island  has 
a  well-earned  reputation  in  South  Greenland  for  its 
dehcious  juices,  and  the  eggs  of  Eider  Island  can  well 


OUR     CHARTS.  321 


afford  to  suffer  from  the  occasional  visits  of  gulls  and 
other  bipeds;  for  a  locustrswarm  of  foragers  might 
fatten  without  stint  on  their  surplus  abundance. 

We  camped  at  this  nursery  of  wild-fowl,  and  laid  in 
four  large  India-rubber  bags  full,  cleaned  and  rudely 
boned.  Our  boat  was  hauled  up  and  refitted ;  and,  the 
trial  having  shown  us  that  she  was  too  heavily  laden 
for  safety,  I  made  a  general  reduction  of  our  stores, 
and  cached  the  surplus  under  the  rocks. 

On  Wednesday,  the  19  th,  we  left  Flagstaff  Point, 
where  we  fixed  our  beacon  last  year;  and  stood  W.  10°  S. 
under  full  canvas.  My  aim  was  to  take  the  channel 
obliquely  at  Littleton  Island;  and,  making  the  drift-ice 
or  the  land  to  the  southwest  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Cape  Combermere,  push  on  for  Kent  Island  and  leave 
a  cairn  there. 

I  had  the  good  fortune  to  get  satisfactory  meridian 
observations,  as  well  as  angular  bearings  between  Cape 
Alexander  and  Flagstaff  Point,  and  found,  as  our 
operations  by  theodolite  had  already  indicated,  that  the 
entire  coastrline  upon  the  Admiralty  Charts  of  my  pre- 
decessor would  have  to  be  altered. 

Cape  Isabella,  the  western  headland  of  the  strait, 
whose  discovery,  by-the-way,  is  due  rather  to  old  Baffin 
than  his  follower  Sir  John  Ross,  bears  W.  22°  N.  (solar) 
from  Cape  Alexander;  its  former  location  being  some 
20°  to  the  south  of  west.  The  narrowest  part  of 
Smith's  Straits  is  not,  as  has  been  considered,  between 
these  two  capes,  but  upon  the  parallel  of  78°  24',  where 
Cape  Isabella  bears  due  west  of  Littleton  Island,  and 


Vol.  I.— 21 


'.>oo 


CAPTAIN     INGLEFIELD. 


the  diameter  of  the  channel  is  reduced  to  thirty-seven 
miles. 

The  difference  between  our  projection  of  this  coast 
and  Captain  Inglefield's,  refers  itself  naturally  to  the 


CAPE      ISABELLA. 


diJQfering  circumstances  under  which  the  two  were 
framed.  The  sluggishness  of  the  compass,  and  the 
eccentricities  of  refraction  in  the  Arctic  seas,  are  well 
fitted  to  embarrass  and  mislead  a  navigator.  I  might 
hesitate  to  assert  the  greater  certainty  for  our  results, 
had  not  the  position  of  our  observatory  at  Fern  Rock, 
to  which  our  survey  is  referred,  been  determined  by  a 
careful  series  of  astronomical  observations. ^^^^ 

Captain  Inglefield  gives  Ihe  mean  trend  of  the  east 
coast  about  20°  too  much  to  the  north;  in  consequence 


DISCREPANCIES.  323 


of  which  the  capes  and  indentations  sighted  by  him 
are  too  high  in  latitude. 

Cape  Frederick  VII.,  his  highest  northern  point, 
is  placed  in  lat.  79°  30',  while  no  land — the  glacier 
not  being  considered  as  such — is  found  on  that  coast 
beyond  79°  13'.  The  same  cape  as  laid  down  in 
the  Admiralty  Chart  of  1852  is  about  eighty  miles 
from  the  farthest  position  reached  by  Captain  Ingle- 
field.  To  see  land  upon  the  horizon  at  this  distance, 
even  from  a  mast-head  eighty  feet  high,  would  require 
it  to  be  a  mountain  Avhose  altitude  exceeded  three 
thousand  five  hundred  feet.  An  island  similar  in  posi- 
tion to  that  designated  by  Captain  Inglefield  as  Louis 
Napoleon  does  not  exist.  The  land  sighted  in  that 
direction  may  have  been  the  top  of  a  high  mountain 
on  the  north  side  of  Franklin  Pierce  Bay,  though  this 
supposition  requires  us  to  assume  an  error  in  the  bear- 
ing ;  for,  as  given  in  the  chart,  no  land  could  be  within 
the  range  of  sight.  In  deference  to  Captain  Inglefield, 
I  have  continued  for  this  promontory  the  name  which 
he  had  impressed  upon  it  as  an  island. 

Toward  night  the  wind  freshened  from  the  north- 
ward, and  we  passed  beyond  the  protection  of  the 
straits  into  the  open  seaway.  My  journal  gives  no 
picture  of  the  life  we  now  entered  on.  The  oldest 
sailor,  who  treads  the  deck  of  his  ship  with  the  familiar 
confidence  of  a  man  at  home,  has  a  distrust  of  open- 
boat  navigation  which  a  landsman  hardly  shares.  The 
feehng  grew  upon  us   as  we  lost  the  land.     McGary 


324  A     VIOLENT     GALE. 


was  an  old  Behring's  Straits  whaler,  and  there  is  no 
better  boatman  in  the  world  than  he;  but  I  know 
that  he  shared  my  doubts,  as  the  boat  buried  herself 
again  and  again  in  the  trough  of  a  short  chopping 
sea,  which  it  taxed  all  his  dexterity  in  steering  to 
meet. 

Baffin  passed  around  this  gulf  in  1616  with  two 
small  vessels;  but  they  were  giants  beside  ours.  1 
thought  of  them  as  we  crossed  his  track  steering  for 
Cape  Combermere,  then  about  sixty  miles  distant,  with 
every  prospect  of  a  heavy  gale. 

We  were  in  the  centre  of  this  large  area  of  open 
water  when  the  gale  broke  upon  us  from  the  north. 
We  were  near  foundering.  Our  false  bow  of  India- 
rubber  cloth  was  beaten  in,  and  our  frail  weather- 
boarding  soon  followed  it.  With  the  utmost  exertion 
we  could  hardly  keep  our  boat  from  broaching  to :  a 
broken  oar  or  an  accidental  twitch  would  have  been 
fatal  to  us  at  any  time.  But  McGary  handled  that 
whaler's  marvel,  the  long  steering-oar,  with  admirable 
skill.  None  of  us  could  pretend  to  take  his  place.  For 
twenty-two  unbroken  hours  he  stuck  to  his  post  with- 
out relaxing  his  attention  or  his  efforts. 

I  was  not  prepared  for  such  a  storm.  I  do  not  think 
I  have  seen  a  worse  sea  raised  by  the  northers  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  last  the  Avind  hauled  to  the  east- 
ward, and  we  were  glad  to  drive  before  it  for  the 
in-shore  floes.  We  had  passed  several  bergs;  but 
the  sea  dashed  against  their  sides  so  furiously  as  to 


FAST     TO     A     FLOE. 


325 


negative  all  hope  of  protection  at  their  base :  the 
pack  or  floe,  so  much  feared  before,  was  now  looked 
to  for  a  refuge, 

I  remember  well  our  anxiety  as  we  entered  the 
loose  streams  of  drift  after  four  hours'  scudding,  and 
our  relief  when  we  felt  their  influence  upon  the  sea. 
We  fastened  to  an  old  floe,  not  fifty  yards  in  dia- 
meter, and,  with  the  weather-surf  breaking  over  our 
heads,  rode  out  the  storm  under  a  warp  and  grapnel. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

WORKING  ON — A  BOAT  NIP — ICE-BARRIER — THE  BARRIER  PACK — 
PROGRESS  HOPELESS — NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND — NORTHUMBER- 
LAND  GLACIER — ICE-CASCADES — NEVE. 

The  obstacle  we  had  now  to  encounter  was  the  pack 
that  stretched  between  us  and  the  south. 

"When  the  storm  abated,  we  commenced  boring  into 
it, —  slow  work  at  the  best  of  times;  but  my  com- 
panions encountered  it  with  a  persevering  activity 
quite  as  admirable  as  their  fortitude  in  danger.  It 
had  its  own  hazards  too;  and  more  than  once  it 
looked  as  if  we  were  permanently  beset.  I  myself 
knew  that  we  might  rely  on  the  southerly  wind  to 
liberate  us  from  such  an  imprisonment;  but  I  saw 
that  the  men  thought  otherwise,  as  the  ice-fields  closed 
around  us  and  the  horizon  showed  an  unchanging  circle 
of  ice. 

"We  were  still  laboring  on,  hardly  past  the  middle 
of  the  bay,  when  the  floes  began  to  relax.  On  Sunday, 
the  23d  of  July,  the  whole  aspect  around  us  changed. 
The  sun  came  out  cheeringly,  the  leads  opened  more 
and   more,   and,   as  we  pulled   through   them   to   the 

326 


WORKING     ON.  327 


soiitli,  each  ice-tongue  that  we  doubled  brought  us 
nearer  to  the  Greenland  shore.  A  slackening  of  the 
ice  to  the  east  enabled  us  after  a  while  to  lay  our 
course  for  Hakluyt  Island,  We  spread  our  canvas 
again,  and  reached  the  in-shore  fields  by  one  in  the 
afternoon.  We  made  our  camp,  dried  our  buffalo- 
skins,  and  sunned  and  slept  away  our  fatigue. 

We  renewed  our  labors  in  the  morning.  Keeping 
inside  the  pack,  we  coasted  along  for  the  Gary  Islands, 
encountering  now  and  then  a  projecting  floe,  and 
either  boring  or  passing  around  it,  but  making  a  satis- 
factory progress  on  the  whole  toward  Lancaster  Sound. 
But  at  the  south  point  of  Northumberland  Island  the 
pack  arrested  us  once  more.  The  seam  by  which  we 
had  come  east  lay  between  Whale  Sound  and  Murchison 
Inlet,  and  the  ice-drift  from  the  southern  of  these  had 
now  piled  itself  in  our  way. 

I  was  confident  that  I  should  find  the  "Eastern 
Water"  if  I  could  only  reach  Cape  Parry,  and  that  this 
would  give  me  a  free  track  to  Gary  Islands.  I  there- 
fore looked  anxiously  for  a  fissure  in  the  pack,  and 
pressed  our  little  craft  into  the  first  one  that  seemed  at 
all  practicable. 

For  the  next  three  days  we  worked  painfully  through 
the  half-open  leads,  making  in  all  some  fifteen  miles  to 
the  south.  We  had  very  seldom  room  enough  to  row; 
but,  as  we  tracked  along,  it  was  not  difficult  to  escape 
nippings,  by  hauling  up  the  boat  on  the  ice.  Still  she 
received  some  hard  knocks,  and  a  twist  or  two  that  did 
not  help  her  sea-worthiness;  for  she  began  to  leak;  and 


328 


STILL     WORKUSTG     ON. 


this,  with  the  rain  which  fell  heavily,  forced  us  to  bule 
her  out  every  other  hour.  Of  course,  we  could  not 
sleep,  and  one  of  our  little  party  fell  sick  with  the 
unmitigated  fatigue. 

On  the  twenty-ninth,  it  came  on  to  blow,  the  wind 


SOUTH      POINT     OF      NORTHUMBERLAND      ISLAND. 


still  keeping  from  the  southwest,  but  cold  and  almost 
rising  to  a  gale.  We  had  had  another  wet  and  sleep- 
less night,  for  the  floes  still  baffled  us  by  their  capricious 
movements.  But  at  three  in  the  afternoon  we  had 
the  sun  again,  and  the  ice  opened  just  enough  to  tempt 


A     BOAT-NIP.  329 


US.     It  was  ancomfortable  toil.     We  pushed  forward 
I  our  little  weather-worn  craft,  her  gunwales  touching  on 

both  sides,  till  the  toppling  ice  began  to  break  down 
on  us,  and  sometimes,  critically  suspended,  met  above 
our  heads. 

One  of  these  passages  I  am  sure  we  all  of  us  re- 
member. We  were  in  an  alley  of  pounded  ice-masses, 
such  as  the  receding  floes  leave  when  they  have  crushed 
the  tables  that  were  between  them,  and  had  pushed 
our  way  far  enough  to  make  retreat  impossible,  when 
the  fields  began  to  close  in.  There  was  no  escaping  a 
nip,  for  every  thing  was  loose  and  rolling  around  us, 
and  the  floes  broke  into  hummock-ridges  as  they  came 
together.  They  met  just  ahead  of  us,  and  gradually 
swayed  in  toward  our  boat.  The  fragments  were 
already  splitting  off  and  spinning  over  us,  when  we 
found  ourselves  borne  up  by  the  accumulating  rubbish, 
like  the  Advance  in  her  winter  drift;  and,  after  resting 
for  twenty  minutes  high  out  of  water,  quietly  lowered 
again  as  the  fields  relaxed  their  pressure. 

Generally,  however,  the  ice-fields  came  together 
directly,  and  so  gradually  as  to  enable  us  to  anticipate 
their  contact.  In  such  cases,  as  we  were  short-handed 
and  our  boat  heavily  laden,  we  were  glad  to  avail  our- 
selves of  the  motion  of  the  floes  to  assist  in  lifting  her 
upon  them.  We  threw  her  across  the  lead  by  a  small 
pull  of  the  steering-oar,  and  let  her  meet  the  approach- 
ing ice  upon  her  bow.  The  effect,  as  we  found  in  every 
instance,  was  to  press  her  down  forward  as  the  floe 
advanced  against  her,  and  to  raise  her  stern  aljcve  the 


330  ICE-BARRIER. 


level  of  the  other  field.  We  held  ourselves  ready  for 
the  sj)ring  as  she  began  to  rise. 

It  was  a  time  of  almost  mibroken  excitement;  yet  I 
am  not  surprised,  as  I  turn  over  the  notes  of  my 
meagre  diary,  to  find  how  little  of  stirring  incident  it 
records.  The  story  of  one  day's  strife  with  the  ice-floes 
might  almost  serve  for  those  which  followed  it:  I 
remember  that  we  were  four  times  nipped  before  we 
succeeded  in  releasing  ourselves,  and  that  we  were  glad 
to  haul  upon  the  floes  as  often  as  a  dozen  times  a  day. 
We  attempted  to  drag  forward  on  the  occasional  fields; 
but  we  had  to  give  it  up,  for  it  strained  the  boat  so 
much  that  she  was  barely  sea-worthy :  it  kept  one  man 
busy  the  last  six  days  baling  her  out. 

On  the  31st,  at  the  distance  of  ten  miles  from  Cape 
Parry,  we  came  to  a  dead  halt.  A  solid  mass  lay 
directly  across  our  path,  extending  onward  to  our 
farthest  horizon.  There  were  bergs  in  sight  to  the 
westward,  and  by  walking  for  some  four  miles  over 
the  moving  floe  in  that  direction,  McGary  and  myself 
succeeded  in  reaching  one.  We  climbed  it  to  the  height 
of  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and,  looking  out  from  it 
with  my  excellent  spy-glass  to  the  south  and  west,  we 
saw  that  all  within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles  was  a  mo- 
tionless, unbroken,  and  impenetrable  sea. 

T  had  not  counted  on  this.  Captain  Inglefield  found 
open  water  two  years  before  at  this  very  point.  I 
myself  met  no  ice  here  only  seven  days  later  in  1853. 
Yet  it  was  plain,  that  from  Cape  Combermere  on  the 
west  side,  and  an  unnamed  bay  immediately  to  the 


THE     BARRIER     PACK.  331 


north  of  it,  across  to  Hackluyt  Island,  there  extended 
a  continuous  barrier  of  ice.  "We  had  scarcely  pene- 
trated beyond  its  margin. 

We  had,  in  fact,  reached  the  dividing  pack  of  the 
two  great  open  waters  of  Baffin's  Bay.  The  expe- 
rience of  the  whalers  and  of  the  expedition-ships  that 
have  traversed  this  region  have  made  all  of  us  fami- 
liar with  that  great  expanse  of  open  sea,  to  the  north 
of  Cape  Dudley  Diggs,  which  has  received  the  name 
of  the  North  Water.  Combining  the  observations  of 
Baffin,  Eoss,  and  Inglefield,  we  know  that  this  some- 
times extends  as  far  north  as  Littleton  Island,  em- 
bracing an  area  of  ninety  thousand  square  miles.  The 
voyagers  I  have  named  could  not,  of  course,  be  aware 
of  the  interesting  fact  that  this  water  is  divided,  at 
least  occasionally,  into  two  distinct  bodies;  the  one 
comprehended  between  Lancaster  and  Jones's  Sounds, 
the  other  extending  from  the  point  we  had  now 
reached  to  the  upper  pack  of  Smith's  Straits.  But  it 
was  evident  to  all  of  our  party  that  the  barrier  which 
now  arrested  us  was  made  up  of  the  ices  which  Jones's 
Sound  on  the  west  and  Murchison's  on  the  east  had 
discharged  and  driven  together. 

I  may  mention,  as  bearing  on  the  physical  geogra- 
phy of  the  region,  that  south  of  Cape  Isabella  the 
western  shore  is  invested  by  a  zone  of  unbroken  ice. 
We  encountered  it  when  we  were  about  twenty  miles 
from  the  land.  It  followed  the  curves  of  three  great 
indentations,  whose  bases  were  lined  with  glaciers 
rivalling  those  of  Melville  Bay.     The  bergs  from  them 


332  PROGRESS     HOPELESS. 


were  numerous  and  large,  entangling  the  floating  floes, 
and  contributing  as  much  as  the  currents  to  the  ice- 
clad  character  of  this  most  dreary  coast.  The  currents 
alone  would  not  explain  it.  Yet  when  we  recur  to 
the  observations  of  Graah,  who  describes  a  similar  belt 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland,  and  to  the  observa- 
tions of  the  same  character  that  have  been  made  on 
the  coasts  of  Arctic  America  to  the  southeast,  it  is  not 
easy  to  escape  the  thought  that  this  accumulation  of 
ice  on  the  western  shores  must  be  due,  in  part  at 
least,  to  the  rotary  movements  of  the  earth,  whose 
increasing  radius  as  we  recede  from  the  Pole  gives 
increased  velocity  to  the  southern  ice-pack. 

To  return  to  our  narrative.  It  was  obvious  that  a 
further  attempt  to  penetrate  to  the  south  must  be 
hopeless  till  the  ice-barrier  before  us  should  undergo 
a  change.  I  had  observed,  when  passing  Northumber- 
land Island,  that  some  of  its  glacier-slopes  were  mar- 
gined with  verdure,  an  almost  unfailing  indication  of 
animal  life ;  and,  as  my  men  were  much  wasted  by 
diarrhoea,  and  our  supplies  of  food  had  become  scanty, 
I  resolved  to  work  my  way  to  the  island  and  recruit 
there  for  another  effort. 

Tracking  and  sometimes  rowing  through  a  heavy 
rain,  we  traversed  the  leads  for  two  days,  working 
eastward ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  third  gained  the 
open  water  near  the  shore.  Here  a  breeze  came  to  our 
aid,  and  in  a  couple  of  hours  more  we  passed  with  now 
unwonted  facility  to  the  southern  face  of  the  island. 
We  met  several  flocks  of  little  auks  as  we  approached 


NORTHUMBERLAND     ISLAND. 


333 


it,  and  found  on  landing  that  it  was  one  enormous 
homestead  of  the  auks,  dovekies,  and  gulls. 

We  encamped  on  the  31st,  on  a  low  beach  at  the  foot 
of  a  moraine  that  came  down  between  precipitous  cliffs 
of  surpassing  wildness.  It  had  evidently  been  selected 
by  the  Esquimaux  for  a  winter  settlement :   five  well- 


NORTHUMBERLAND      ISLAND. 


built  huts  of  stone  attested  this.  Three  of  them  were 
still  tolerably  perfect,  and  bore  marks  of  recent  habita- 
tion. The  droppings  of  the  birds  had  fertilized  the 
soil,  and  it  abounded  in  grasses,  sorrel,  and  cochlearia, 
to  the  water's  edge.  The  foxes  were  about  in  great 
numbers,  attracted,  of  course,  by  the  abundance  of 
birds.  They  were  all  of  them  of  the  lead-colored 
variety,  without  a  white  one  among  them.     The  young 


334 


NORTHUMBERLAND     GLACIER. 


ones,  as  yet  lean  and  seemingly  unskilled  in  hospitable 
courtesies,  barked  at  us  as  we  walked  about. 

I  was  greatly  interested  by  a  glacier  that  occupied 
the  head  of  the  moraine.     It  came  down  abruptly  from 


GLACIER      OF      NORTHUMBERLAND      ISLAND. 


the  central  plateau  of  the  island,  with  an  angle  of 
descent  of  more  than  seventy  degrees.  I  have  never 
seen  one  that  illustrated  more  beautifully  the  viscous 
or  semi-solid  movement  of  these  masses.  Like  a  well- 
known  glacier  of  the  Alps,  it  had  two  planes  of  descent ; 
the  upper  nearly  precipitous  for  about  four  hundred 


ICE-CASCADES.  661 


feet  from  the  summit;  the  lower  of  about  the  same 
height,  but  with  an  angle  of  some  fifty  degrees;  the 
two  communicating  by  a  slightly-inclined  platform  per- 
haps half  a  mile  long.  This  ice  was  unbroken  through 
its  entire  extent.  It  came  down  from  the  level  of  the 
upper  country,  a  vast  icicle,  with  the  folds  or  waves 
impressed  upon  it  by  its  onward  motion  undisturbed 
by  any  apparent  fracture  or  crevasse.  Thus  it  rolled 
onward  over  the  rugged  and  contracting  platform  below, 
and  thence  poured  its  semi-solid  mass  down  upon  the 
plain.  Where  it  encountered  occasional  knobs  of  rock 
it  passed  round  them,  bearing  still  the  distinctive 
marks  of  an  imperfect  fluid  obstructed  in  its  descent; 
and  its  lower  fall  described  a  dome,  or,  to  use  the  more 
accurate  simile  of  Forbes,  a  great  outspread  clam-shell 
of  ice. 

It  seemed  as  if  an  interior  ice-lake  was  rising  above 
the  brink  of  the  cliffs  that  confined  it.  In  many  places 
it  could  be  seen  exuding  or  forcing  its  way  over  the 
very  crest  of  the  rocks,  and  hanging  down  in  huge  icy 
stalactites  seventy  and  a  hundred  feet  long.  These 
were  still  lengthening  out  by  the  continuous  overflow, 
some  of  them  breaking  off  as  their  weight  became  too 
great  for  their  tenacity,  others  swelling  by  constant 
supplies  from  the  interior,  but  spitting  off  fragmentary 
masses  with  an  unremitting  clamor.  The  plain  below 
these  cataractine  glaciers  was  piling  up  with  the  debris, 
while  torrents  of  the  melted  rubbish  found  their  way, 
foaming  and  muddy,  to  the  sea,  carrying  gravel  and 
rocks  along  with  them. 


336 


ICE-CASCADES. 


These  ice-cascades,  as  we  called  them,  kept  up  their 
din  the  whole  night,  sometimes  startling  us  with  a 
heavy  booming  sound,  as  the  larger  masses  fell,  but 
more  generally  rattling  away  like  the  random  fires  of  a 
militia  parade.  On  examining  the  ice  of  which  they 
were  made  up,  I  found  grains  of  7ieve  larger  than  a 
walnut;  so  large,  indeed,  that  it  was  hard  to  realize  that 
they  could  be  formed  by  the  ordinary  granulating  pro- 
cesses of  the  winter  snows.  My  impression  is,  that  the 
surface  of  the  plateau-ice,  the  mer  de  glace  of  the  island, 
is  made  up  of  these  agglomerated  nodules,  and  that 
they  are  forced  out  and  discarded  by  the  advance  of 
the  more  compact  ice  from  higher  levels.^^^^ 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

TUE   ICE-FOOT   IN    AUGUST  —  THE   PACK   IN    AUGUST  —  ICE-BLAST ENG 

— FOX-TRAP   POINT  —  WARPING  —  THE   PROSPECT APPROACHING 

CLIMAX SIGNAL  CAIRN THE  RECORD PROJECTED  WITHDRAWAL 

THE    QUESTION THE    DETERMINATION THE   RESULT. 

It  was  with  mingled  feelings  that  we  neared  the 
brig.  Our  little  party  had  grown  fat  and  strong  upon 
the  auks  and  eiders  and  scurvy-grass;  and  surmises 
were  rife  among  us  as  to  the  condition  of  our  comrades 
and  the  prospects  of  our  ice-bound  little  ship. 

The  tide-leads,  which  one  year  ago  had  afforded  a 
precarious  passage  to  the  vessel,  now  barely  admitted 
our  whaleboat;  and,  as  we  forced  her  through  the 
broken  ice,  she  showed  such  signs  of  hard  usage,  that 
I  had  her  hauled  up  upon  the  land-belt  and  housed 
under  the  cliffs  at  Six-mile  Ravine.  We  crossed  the 
rocks  on  foot,  aided  by  our  jumping-poles,  and  startled 
our  shipmates  by  our  sudden  appearance. 

In  the  midst  of  the  greeting  which  always  met  our 
returning  parties,  and  which  gave  to  our  little  vessel 
the  endearing  associations  of  a  homestead,  our  thoughts 
reverted  to  the  feeble  chances  of  our  liberation,  and 

Vol.  I.— 22  337 


338  THE     ICE-FOOT     IX     AUGUST. 


the  failure  of  our  recent  effort  to  secure  the  means  of  a 
retreat. 

The  brig  had  been  imprisoned  by  closely-cementing 
ice  for  eleven  months,  during  which  period  she  had  not 
budged  an  inch  from  her  icy  cradle.  My  journal  will 
show  the  efforts  and  the  hopes  which  engrossed  oui 
few  remaining  days  of  uncertainty  and  suspense : — 

"August  8,  Tuesday. — This  morning  two  saw-lines 
were  passed  from  the  open-water  pools  at  the  sides  of 
our  sternpost,  and  the  ice  was  bored  for  blasting.  In 
the  course  of  our  operations  the  brig  surged  and  righted, 
rising  two  and  a  half  feet.  We  are  now  trying  to  warp 
her  a  few  yards  toward  Butler  Island,  where  we  again 
go  to  work  with  our  powder-canisters. 

"August  11,  Friday. — Returned  yesterday  from  an 
inspection  of  the  ice  toward  the  Esquimaux  settlements; 
but,  absorbing  as  was  my  errand,  I  managed  to  take 
geognostical  sections  and  profiles  of  the  coast  as  far 
south  as  Peter  Force  Bay,  beyond  which  the  ice  was 
impenetrable. 

"  I  have  often  referred  to  the  massive  character  of  the 
ice  in  that  neighborhood.  The  ice-foot,  by  our  winter 
measurement  twenty-seven  feet  in  mean  thickness  by 
forty  yards  in  width,  is  now  of  dimensions  still  more 
formidable.  Large  masses,  released  like  land-slides  by 
the  action  of  torrents  from  the  coast,  form  here  and 
there  a  belt  or  reef,  which  clogs  the  shoal  water  near 
the  shore  and  prevents  a  passage.  Such  ice  I  have 
seen  thirty-six  feet  in  height;  and  when  subjected,  as 
it  often  is,  to  hummock-squeezing,  sixty  and  seventy 


THE     PACK     IN     AUGUST.  339 


feet.  It  requires  experience  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
true  iceberg. 

"When  I  passed  up  the  Sound  on  the  Gth  of  August, 
after  my  long  southern  journey,  I  found  the  ice-foot 
comparatively  unbroken,  and  a  fine  interval  of  open 
water  between  it  and  the  large  floes  of  the  pack.  Since 
then,  this  pack  has  been  broken  up,  and  the  commi- 
nuted fragments,  forming  a  great  drift,  move  with  tides 
and  currents  in  such  a  way  as  to  obliterate  the  'land- 
water'  at  high  tide,  and  under  some  circumstances  at 
other  times.  This  broken  rubbish  occasionally  expands 
enough  to  permit  a  boat  to  pass  through;  but,  as  we 
found  it,  a  passage  could  only  be  effected  by  heavy 
labor,  and  at  great  expense  to  our  boat,  nearly  unsea- 
worthy  now  from  her  former  trials.  We  hauled  her  up 
near  Bedevilled  Headland,  and  returned  to  the  brig 
on  foot. 

"As  I  travelled  back  along  the  coast,  I  observed  the 
wonderful  changes  brought  about  by  the  disruption  of 
the  pack.  It  was  my  hope  to  have  extricated  the  brig, 
if  she  was  ever  to  be  liberated,  before  the  drift  had 
choked  the  land-leads;  but  now  they  are  closely  jammed 
with  stupendous  ice-fragments,  records  of  inconceivable 
pressures.  The  bergs,  released  from  their  winter 
cement,  have  driven  down  in  crowds,  grounding  on  the 
shalloAvs,  and  extending  in  reefs  or  chains  out  to  sea- 
ward, where  they  have  caught  and  retained  the  floating 
ices.  The  prospect  was  really  desolation  itself.  One 
floe  measured  nine  feet  in  mean  elevation  above  the 
water-level;    thus   implying   a   tabular   thickness   by 


MO 


ICE-BLASTING. 


direct  congelation  of  sixty-three  feet.  It  had  so  closed 
in  with  the  shore,  too,  as  to  rear  up  a  barricade  of 
crushed  ice  which  it  was  futile  to  attempt  to  pass.  All 
prospect  of  forcing  a  passage  ceased  north  of  Six-mile 
Ravine. 


APPROACH      TO      OBSERVATORY. 


"On  reaching  the  brig,  I  found  that  the  blasting  had 
succeeded:  one  canister  cracked  and  uplifted  two 
hundred  square  yards  of  ice  with  but  five  pounds  of 
powder.  A  prospect  showed  itself  of  getting  inside  the 
island  at  high- water;  and  I  determined  to  attempt  it  at 
the  highest  spring-tide,  which  takes  place  on  the  12th. 

"August  12,  Saturday. — The  brig  bore  the  strain  of 


FOX-TRAP     POINT.  341 


her  new  position  very  well.  The  tide  fell  fifteen  feet, 
leaving  her  high  and  dry ;  but,  as  the  water  rose,  every 
thing  was  replaced,  and  the  deck  put  in  order  for 
warping  again.  Everj'-  one  in  the  little  vessel  turned 
to;  and  after  much  excitement,  at  the  very  top  of  the 
tide,  she  passed  'by  the  skin  of  her  teeth.'  She  was 
then  warped  into  a  bight  of  the  floe,  near  Fox-Trap 
Point,  and  there  she  now  lies. 

"  We  congratulate  ourselves  upon  effecting  this  cross- 
ing. Had  we  failed,  we  should  have  had  to  remain 
fast  probably  for  the  high  tides  a  fortnight  hence.  The 
young  ice  is  already  making,  and  our  hopes  rest  mainly 
upon  the  gales  of  late  August  and  September. 

"August  13,  Sunday. — Still  fast  to  the  old  floe  near 
Fox-Trap  Point,  waiting  a  heavy  wind  as  our  only 
means  of  liberation.  The  land-trash  is  cemented  by 
young  ice,  which  is  already  an  inch  and  a  half  thick. 
The  thermometer  has  been  as  low  as  29°;  but  the  fog 
and  mist  which  prevail  to-day  are  in  our  favor.  The 
perfect  clearness  of  the  past  five  days  hastened  the 
growth  of  young  ice,  and  it  has  been  forming  without 
Intermission. 

"I  took  a  long  walk  to  insj^ect  the  ice  toward  Six- 
mile  Ravine.  This  ice  has  never  been  moved  either 
by  wind  or  water  since  its  formation.  I  found  that  it 
lined  the  entire  shore  with  long  ridges  of  detached 
fragments  :  a  discouraging  obstacle,  if  it  should  remain, 
in  the  way  of  our  future  liberation.  It  is  in  direct 
contact  with  the  big  floe  that  we  are  now  fast  to,  and 
is  the  remnant  of  the  triple  lines  of  'land-ices'  which  I 


342  ICE-INSPECTION. 


have  described  already.     I  attribute  its  permanency  to 
the  almost  constant  shadow  of  the  mountains  near  it. 

"August  15,  Tuesday. — To-day  I  made  another  ice- 
inspection  to  the  N.E.  The  floe  on  which  I  have 
trudged  so  often,  the  big  bay-floe  of  our  former  moor- 
ing, is  nearly  the  same  as  when  we  left  it.  I  recog- 
nised the  holes  and  cracks,  through  the  fog,  by  a  sort 
of  instinct.  McGary  and  myself  had  little  difficulty  in 
reaching  the  Fiord  Water  by  our  jumping-poles. 

"I  have  my  eye  on  this  water;  for  it  may  connect 
with  the  Northeast  Headland  and  hereafter  give  us  a 
passage.  •  •        '         .  / 

"  The  season  travels  on  :  the  young  ice  grows  thicker, 
and  my  messmates'  faces  grow  longer,  every  day.  I 
have  again  to  play  buffoon  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of 
the  party. 

"A  raven !  The  snow-birds  begin  to  fly  to  the  south 
in  groups,  coming  at  night  to  our  brig  to  hover  on  the 
rigging.  Winter  is  hurrying  upon  us.  The  poppies 
are  quite  wilted. 

"  Examined  ice  with  Mr.  Bonsall,  and  determined  to 
enter  the  broken  land-ices  by  warping ;  not  that  there 
is  the  slightest  probability  of  getting  through,  but  it 
aflbrds  moral  aid  and  comfort  to  the  men  and  officers : 
it  looks  as  if  we  were  doing  something. 

"August  17,  Thursday. — Warped  about  one  hundred 
yards  into  the  trash,  and,  after  a  long  day  of  labor, 
have  turned  in,  hoping  to  recommence  at  5  a.m.  to- 
morrow. 

"  In  five  days  the   spring-tides  come  back :   should 


THE     PROSPECT.  343 


we  fail  in  passing  with  them,  I  think  our  fortunes  are 
fixed.  The  young  ice  bore  a  man  this  morning :  it 
had  a  bad  look,  this  man-supporting  August  ice  !  The 
tenijDerature  never  falls  below  28° ;  but  it  is  cold 
o'  nights  with  no  fire. 

"August  18,  Friday. — Reduced  our  allowance  of 
wood  to  six  pounds  a  meal.  This,  among  eighteen 
mouths,  is  one-third  of  a  pound  of  fuel  for  each.  It 
allow^s  us  coffee  twice  a  day,  and  soup  once.  Our  fare 
besides  this  is  cold  pork  boiled  in  quantity  and  eaten 
as  required.  This  sort  of  thing  works  badly ;  but  I 
must  save  coal  for  other  emergencies.  I  see  'darkness 
ahead.' 

"  I  inspected  the  ice  again  to-day.  Bad !  bad ! — I 
must  look  another  winter  in  the  face.  I  do  not  shrink 
from  the  thought ;  but,  while  we  have  a  chance  ahead, 
it  is  my  first  duty  to  have  all  things  in  readiness  to 
meet  it.  It  is  horrible — ^yes,  that  is  the  word — to  look 
forward  to  another  year  of  disease  and  darkness  to  be 
met  without  fresh  food  and  without  fuel.  I  should 
meet  it  with  a  more  tempered  sadness  if  I  had  no 
comrades  to  think  for  and  protect. 

"August  20,  Sunday. — Rest  for  all  hands.  The 
daily  prayer  is  no  longer  'Lord,  accept  our  gratitude 
and  bless  our  undertaking,'  but  '  Lord,  accept  our  grati- 
tude and  restore  us  to  our  homes.'  The  ice  shows  no 
change  :  after  a  boat  and  foot  journey  around  the  entire 
southeastern  curve  of  the  bay,  no  signs ! 

"I  was  out  in  the  Red  Eric  with  Bonsall,  McGary, 
Hans,  Riley,  and  John.     We  tracked  her  over  the  ice 


344  APPROACHING     CLIMAX. 


to  the  Burgomaster  Cove,  the  flanking  cape  of  Char- 
lotte Wood  Fiord  and  its  river.  Here  we  launched 
her,  and  went  all  round  the  long  canal  which  the 
running  waters  have  eaten  into  the  otherwise  un- 
changed ice.  Charlotte  Wood  Fiord  is  a  commanding 
sheet  of  water,  nearly  as  wide  as  the  Delaware  :  in  the 
midst  of  the  extreme  solidity  around  us,  it  looked  de- 
ceitfully gladdening.  After  getting  to  the  other  side, 
near  Little  Willie's  Monument,  we  ascended  a  high 
bluff,  and  saw  every  thing  weary  and  discouraging 
beyond.     Our  party  returned  quite  crestfallen." 

My  attempt  to  reach  Beechy  Island  had  disclosed, 
as  I  thought  it  would,  the  impossibility  of  reaching 
the  settlements  of  Greenland.  Between  the  American 
and  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay  was  one  continuous 
pack  of  ice,  which,  after  I  had  travelled  on  it  for  many 
miles  to  the  south,  was  still  of  undefined  extent  before 
me.  The  birds  had  left  their  colonies.  The  water- 
streams  from  the  bergs  and  of  the  shore  were  freezing 
up  rapidly.  The  young  ice  made  the  water-surface 
impassable  even  to  a  whaleboat.  It  was  clear  to  me 
that  without  an  absolute  change  of  circumstances,  such 
as  it  was  vain  to  look  for  any  longer,  to  leave  the  ship 
would  be  to  enter  upon  a  wilderness  destitute  of  re- 
sources, and  from  which  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not 
impracticable,  to  return. 

Every  thing  before  us  was  involved  in  gloomy  doubt. 
Hopeful  as  I  had  been,  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel 
that  we  were  near  the  climax  of  the  expedition. 

I  determined  to  place    upon   Observatory  Island  a 


SIGNAL     CAIRN.  345 


large  signal-beacon  or  cairn,  and  to  bury  under  it  docu- 
ments which,  in  case  of  disaster  to  our  party,  would 
convey  to  any  who  might  seek  us  intelligence  of  our 
proceedings  and  our  fate.  The  memory  of  the  first 
winter  quarters  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  and  the  painful 
feelings  with  which,  while  standing  by  the  graves  of 
his  dead,  I  had  five  years  before  sought  for  written 
signs  pointing  to  the  fate  of  the  living,  made  me  care- 
ful to  avoid  a  similar  neglect. 

A  conspicuous  spot  was  selected  upon  a  cliff  looking 
out  upon  the  icy  desert,  and  on  a  broad  face  of  rock 
the  words  . 

ADVANCE, 

A.  D.  1853-54, 

were  painted  in  letters  which  could  be  read  at  a  dis- 
tance. A  pyramid  of  heavy  stones,  perched  above  it, 
was  marked  with  the  Christian  symbol  of  the  cross. 
It  was  not  without  a  holier  sentiment  than  that  of 
mere  utility  that  I  placed  under  this  the  coffins  of  our 
two  poor  comrades.  It  was  our  beacon  and  their 
gravestone. 

Near  this  a  hole  was  worked  into  the  rock,  and  a 
paper,  enclosed  in  glass,  sealed  in  with  melted  lead. 
It  read  as  follows  : — 

"  Brig  Advance,  August  14,  lS5-i. 

"E.  K.  Kane,  with  his  comrades  Henry  Brooks, 
John  Wall  Wilson,  James  McGary,  I.  I.  Hayes,  Chris- 
tian Ohlsen,  Amos  Bonsall,  Henry  Goodfellow,  August 
Sontag,    William    Morton,    J.   Carl    Petersen,    George 


846  THE      RECORD. 


StejDlienson,  Jefferson  Temple  Baker,  George  Rilej, 
Peter  Schubert,  George  Whipple,  John  Blake,  Thomas 
Hickey,  William  Godfrey,  and  Hans  Cristian,  mem- 
bers of  the  Second  Grinnell  Expedition  in  search  of 
Sir  John  Franklin  and  the  missing  crews  of  the  Erebus 
and  Terror,  were  forced  into  this  harbor  while  endea- 
voring to  bore  the  ice  to  the  north  and  east. 

"  They  were  frozen  in  on  the  8th  of  September, 
1853,  and  liberated  

"During  this  period  the  labors  of  the  expedition 
have  delineated  nine  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  coast- 
line, without  developing  any  traces  of  the  missing  ships 
or  the  slightest  information  bearing  upon  their  fate. 
The  amount  of  travel  to  effect  this  exploration  ex- 
ceeded two  thousand  miles,  all  of  which  was  upon  foot 
or  by  the  aid  of  dogs. 

"Greenland  has  been  traced  to  its  northern  face, 
whence  it  is  connected  mth  the  farther  north  of  the 
opposite  coast  by  a  great  glacier.  This  coast  has  been 
charted  as  high  as  lat.  82°  27'.  Smith's  Sound  ex- 
pands into  a  capacious  bay:  it  has  been  surveyed 
throughout  its  entire  extent.  From  its  northern  and 
eastern  corner,  in  lat.  80°  10',  long.  66°,  a  channel  has 
been  discovered  and  followed  until  farther  progress 
was  checked  by  water  free  from  ice.  This  channel 
trended  nearly  due  north,  and  expanded  into  an  appa- 
rently open  sea,  which  abounded  with  birds  and  bears 
and  marine  life. 

"The  death  of  the  dogs  during  the  winter  threw 
the  travel  essential  to  the  above  discoveries  uj)on  the 


THE      RECORD.  347 


personal  efforts  of  the  officers  and  men.     The  summer 
finds  them  much  broken  in  health  and  strength. 

"  "Jefferson  Temple  Baker  and  Peter  Schubert  died 
from  injuries  received  from  cold  while  in  manly  per- 
formance of  their  duty.  Their  remains  are  deposited 
under  a  cairn  at  the  north  point  of  Observatory  Island. 

"  The  site  of  the  observatory  is  seventy-six  English 
feet  from  the  northernmost  salient  point  of  this  island, 
in  a  direction  S.  14°  E.  Its  position  is  in  lat.  78°  37' 
10",  long.  70°  40'.  The  mean  tidal  level  i^  twenty- 
nine  feet  below  the  highest  point  uj^on  this  island. 
Both  of  these  sites  are  further  designated  by  copper 
bolts  sealed  with  melted  lead  into  holes  upon  the 
rocks. 

"On  the  12th  of  August,  1854,  the  brig  warped  from 
her  position,  and,  after  passing  inside  the  group  of 
islands,  fastened  to  the  outer  floe  about  a  mile  to  the 
northwest,  where  she  is  now  awaiting  further  changes 
in  the  ice.  .,  o-        ^ 

*'  Commanding  Expedition. 
"  Fox-Trap  Point,  August  14,  1854." 

Some  hours  later,  the  following  note  was  added. 

"  The  young  ice  having  formed  between  the  brig 
and  this  island,  and  prospects  of  a  gale  showing  them- 
selves, the  date  of  departure  is  left  unfilled.  If  pos- 
sible, a  second  visit  will  be  made  to  insert  our  dates, 
our  final  escape  being  still  dependent  upon  the  course 
of  the  season.  E.  K.  Kane." 


348  PROJECTED     WITHDRAWAL. 


And  now  came  the  question  of  the  second  winter: 
how  to  look  our  enemy  in  the  face,  and  how  to  meet 
him.  Any  thing  was  better  than  inaction ;  and,  in  spite 
of  the  uncertainty  which  yet  attended  our  plans,  a  host 
of  expedients  were  to  be  resorted  to,  and  much  Robinson 
Crusoe  labor  ahead.  Moss  was  to  be  gathered  for  eking 
out  our  winter  fuel,  and  willow-stems  and  stonecrops 
and  sorrel,  as  antiscorbutics,  collected  and  buried  in 
the  snow.  But  while  all  these  were  in  progress  came 
other  and  graver  questions. 

Some  of  my  party  had  entertained  the  idea  that  an 
escape  to  the  south  was  still  practicable;  and  this 
opinion  was  supported  by  Mr.  Petersen,  our  Danish 
interpreter,  who  had  accompanied  the  Searching  Expe- 
dition of  Captain  Penny,  and  had  a  matured  experience 
in  the  changes  of  Arctic  ice.  They  even  thought  that 
the  safety  of  all  would  be  promoted  by  a  withdrawal 
from  the  brig. 

"August  21,  Monday. — The  question  of  detaching, a 
party  was  in  my  mind  some  time  ago;  but  the  more  I 
thought  it  over,  the  more  I  was  convinced  that  it  would 
be  neither  right  in  itself  nor  practically  safe.  For  my- 
self personally,  it  is  a  simple  duty  of  honor  to  remain 
by  the  brig :  I  could  not  think  of  leaving  her  till  I  had 
proved  the  effect  of  the  later  tides ;  and  after  that,  as  I 
have  known  all  along,  it  would  be  too  late. —  Come 
what  may,  I  share  her  fortunes. 

"But  it  is  a  different  question  with  my  associ- 
ates. I  cannot  expect  them  to  adopt  my  impulses; 
and  I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  I  ought  to  hold  them 


THE      QUESTION.  349 


bound  by  my  conclusions.  Have  I  the  moral  right  ?  for, 
as  to  nautical  rules,  they  do  not  fit  the  circumstances : 
among  the  whalers,  when  a  ship  is  hopelessly  beset, 
the  master's  authority  gives  way,  and  the  crew  take 
counsel  for  themselves  whether  to  go  or  stay  by  her. 
My  party  is  subordinate  and  well  disposed;  but  if  the 
restlessness  of  suffering  makes  some  of  them  anxious 
to  brave  the  chances,  they  may  certainly  plead  that  a 
second  winter  in  the  ice  was  no  part  of  the  cruise  they 
bargained  for. 

"But  what  presses  on  me  is  of  another  character.  I 
cannot  disguise  it  from  myself  that  we  are  wretchedly 
prepared  for  another  winter  on  board.  We  are  a  set  of 
scurvy-riddled,  broken-down  men;  our  provisions  are 
sorely  reduced  in  quantity,  and  are  altogether  unsuited 
to  our  condition.  My  only  hope  of  maintaining  or 
restoring  such  a  degree  of  health  among  us  as  is  indis- 
pensable to  our  escape  in  the  spring  has  been  and  must 
be  in  a  wholesome  elastic  tone  of  feeling  among  the 
men :  a  reluctant,  brooding,  disheartened  spirit  would 
sweep  our  decks  like  a  pestilence.  I  fear  the  bane  of 
depressing  example. 

"I  know  all  this  as  a  medical  man  and  an  officer; 
and  I  feel  that  we  might  be  wearing  away  the  hearts 
and  energies,  if  not  the  lives  of  all,  by  forcing  those 
who  were  reluctant  to  remain.  With  half  a  dozen  con- 
fiding resolute  men,  I  have  no  fears  of  ultimate  safety. 

"I  will  make  a  thorough  inspection  of  the  ice  to- 
morrow, and  decide  finally  the  prospects  of  our 
liberation. 


350  THE     DETERMINATION. 


"August  23,  Wednesday. — The  brig  cannot  escape. 
I  got  an  eligible  position  with  my  sledge  to  review  the 
floes,  and  returned  this  morning  at  two  o'clock.  There 
is  no  possibility  of  our  release,  unless  by  some  extreme 
intervention  of  the  coming  tides.  I  doubt  whether  a 
boat  could  be  forced  as  far  as  the  Southern  Water. 
When  I  think  of  the  extraordinary  way  in  which  the 
ice  was  impacted  last  winter,  how  very  little  it  has 
yielded  through  the  summer,  and  how  early  another 
winter  is  making  its  onset  upon  us,  I  am  very  doubtful, 
indeed,  whether  our  brig  can  get  away  at  all.  It  would 
be  inexpedient  to  attempt  leaving  her  now  in  boats  j 
the  water-streams  closing,  the  pack  nearly  fast  again, 
and  the  young  ice  almost  impenetrable. 

"  I  shall  call  the  officers  and  crew  together,  and  make 
known  to  them  very  fully  how  things  look,  and  what 
hazards  must  attend  such  an  effort  as  has  been  proposed 
among  them.  They  shall  have  my  views  unequivocally 
expressed.  I  will  then  give  them  twenty-four  hours  to 
deliberate;  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  all  who  deter- 
mine to  go  shall  say  so  in  writing,  with  a  full  exposi- 
tion of  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  They  shall  have 
the  best  outfit  I  can  give,  an  abundant  share  of  our 
remaining  stores,  and  my  good-bye  blessing. 

"August  24,  Thursday. — At  noon  to-day  I  had  all 
hands  called,  and  explained  to  them  frankly  the  consi- 
derations which  have  determined  me  to  remain  where 
we  are.  I  endeavored  to  show  them  that  an  escape 
to  open  water  could  not  succeed,  and  that  the  effort 
must   be    exceedingly   hazardous:    I    alluded    to    our 


THE      RESULT.  351 


duties  to  the  ship :  in  a  word,  I  advised  them  strenuously 
to  forego  the  project.  I  then  told  them  that  I  should 
freely  give  my  permission  to  such  as  were  desirous  of 
making  the  attempt,  but  that  I  should  require  them  to 
place  themselves  under  the  command  of  officers  selected 
by  them  before  setting  out,  and  to  renounce  in  writing 
all  claims  upon  myself  and  the  rest  who  were  resolved 
to  stay  by  the  vessel.  Having  done  this,  I  directed  the 
roll  to  be  called,  and  each  man  to  answer  for  himself." 

In  the  result,  eight  out  of  the  seventeen  survivors  of 
my  party  resolved  to  stand  by  the  brig.  It  is  just  that 
I  should  record  their  names.  They  were  Henry  Brooks, 
James  McGary,  J.  W.  Wilson,  Henry  Goodfellow,  Wil- 
liam Morton,  Christian  Olilscn,  Thomas  Hickey,  Hans 
Cristian. 

I  divided  to  the  others  their  portion  of  our  resources 
justly  and  even  liberally;  and  they  left  us  on  Monday, 
the  28th,  with  every  appliance  our  narrow  circum- 
stances could  furnish  to  speed  and  guard  them.  One 
of  them,  George  Riley,  returned  a  few  days  afterward ; 
but  weary  months  went  by  before  we  saw  the  rest 
again.  They  carried  with  them  a  written  assurance  of 
a  brother's  welcome  should  they  be  driven  back ;  and 
this  assurance  was  redeemed  when  hard  trials  had  pre- 
pared them  to  share  again  our  fortunes. 


CHAPTER  XXYII. 

DISCIPLINE  —  BUILDING    IGLOE TOSSUT  —  MOSSING  —  AFTER    SEAL 

— ON   THE   YOUNG    ICE  —  GOING   TOO   FAR  —  SEALS   AT   HOME IN 

THE   WATER — IN    SAFETY — DEATH   OF   TIGER. 

The  party  moved  off  with  the  elastic  step  of  men 
confident  in  their  purpose,  and  were  out  of  sight  in  a 
few  hours.  As  we  lost  them  among  the  hummocks,  the 
stern  realities  of  our  condition  pressed  themselves  upon 
us  anew.  The  reduced  numbers  of  our  party,  the  help- 
lessness of  many,  the  waning  efficiency  of  all,  the  im- 
pending winter  with  its  cold,  dark  night,  our  penury 
of  resources,  the  dreary  sense  of  increased  isolation, — 
these  made  the  staple  of  our  thoughts.  For  a  time.  Sir 
John  Franklin  and  his  party,  our  daily  topic  through 
so  many  months,  gave  place  to  the  question  of  our  own 
fortunes, — how  we  were  to  escape,  how  to  live.     The 

summer  had  gone,  the  harvest  was  ended,   and 

We  did  not  care  to  finish  the  sentence. 

Following  close  on  this  gloomy  train,  and  in  fact 
blending  with  it,  came  the  more  important  discussion 
of  our  duties.  We  were  like  men  driven  to  the  wall, 
quickened,  not  depressed.     Our  j^lans  were  formed  at 


DISCIPLINE.  353 


once :  there  is  nothing  like  emergency  to  speed,  if  not 
to  instruct,  the  energies. 

It  was  my  first  definite  resolve  that,  come  what  might, 
our  organization  and  its  routine  of  observances  should 
be  adhered  to  strictly.  It  is  the  experience  of  every 
man  who  has  either  combated  difficulties  himself  or 
attempted  to  guide  others  through  them,  that  the  con- 
trolling law  shall  be  systematic  action.  Nothing  de- 
presses and  demoralizes  so  much  as  a  surrender  of  the 
approved  and  habitual  forms  of  life.  I  resolved  that 
every  thing  should  go  on  as  it  had  done.  The  arrange- 
ment of  hours,  the  distribution  and  details  of  duty,  the 
religious  exercises,  the  ceremonials  of  the  table,  the 
fires,  the  lights,  the  watch,  even  the  labors  of  the 
observatory  and  the  notation  of  the  tides  and  the 
sky, — nothing  should  be  intermitted  that  had  contri- 
buted to  make  up  the  day.  < 

My  next  was  to  practise  on  the  lessons  we  had 
learned  from  the  Esquimaux.  I  had  studied  them 
carefully,  and  determined  that  their  form  of  habita- 
tions and  their  peculiarities  of  diet,  without  their 
unthrift  and  filth,  were  the  safest  and  best  to  which 
the  necessity  of  our  circumstances  invited  us. 

My  journal  tells  how  these  resolves  were  carried 
out : — 

"September  6,  Wednesday. — We  are  at  it,  all  hands, 
sick  and  well,  each  man  according ,  to  his  measure, 
working  at  our  winter's  home.  We  are  none  of  us 
in  condition  to  brave  the  frost,  and  our  fuel  is  nearly 

Vol.  I.— 23 


354 


BUILDING     IGLOE. 


out.     I  have  determined  to  borrow  a  lesson  from  our 
Esquimaux  neighbors,  and  am  turning  the  brig  into  an 

igloe.  ''-"■■ 

"The  sledge  is  to  bring  us  moss  and  turf  from 
wherever  the  men  can  scrape  it.  This  is  an  excellent 
non-conductor;    and   when   we    get    the    quarter-deck 


GATHERING     MOSS. 


well  padded  with  it  we  shall  have  a  nearly  cold-proof 
covering.  Down  below  we  will  enclose  a  space  some 
eighteen  feet  square,  and  pack  it  from  floor  to  ceiling 
with  inner  walls  of  the  same  material.  The  floor  itself 
we  are  calking  .carefully  with  plaster  of  Paris  and 
common  paste,  and  will  cover  it  when  we  have  done 
with   Manilla  oakum  a  couple  of  inches  deep,  and  a 


THE     TOSSUT MOSSING.  355 


canvas  carpet.  The  entrance  is  to  be  from  the  hold, 
by  a  low  moss-lined  tunnel,  the  tossut  of  the  native 
huts,  with  as  many  doors  and  curtains  to  close  it  up  as 
our  ingenuity  can  devise.  This  is  to  be  our  apartment 
of  all  uses, — not  a  very  large  one ;  but  we  are  only  ten 
to  stow  away,  and  the  closer  the  warmer, 

"September  9,  Saturday. — All  hands  but  the  car- 
penter and  Morton  are  out  'mossing.'  This  mossing, 
though  it  has  a  very  May-day  sound,  is  a  frightfully 
wintry  operation.  The  mixed  turf  of  willows,  heaths, 
grasses,  and  moss,  is  frozen  solid.  We  cannot  cut  it  out 
from  the  beds  of  the  snow-streams  any  longer,  and  are 
obliged  to  seek  for  it  on  the  ledges  of  the  rocks,  quarry- 
ing it  with  crowbars  and  carrying  it  to  the  ship  like 
so  much  stone.  I  would  escape  this  labor  if  I  could, 
for  our  party  have  all  of  them  more  or  less  scurvy  in 
their  systems,  and  the  therfnometer  is  often  below  zero. 
But  there  is  no  help  for  it.  I  have  some  eight  sledge- 
loads  more  to  collect  before  our  little  home  can  be 
called  wind-proof:  and  then,  if  we  only  have  snow 
enough  to  bank  up  against  the  brig's  sides,  I  shall  have 
no  fear  either  for  height  or  uniformity  of  temperature. 

"September  10,  Sunday. — 'The  work  goes  bravely 
on.'  We  have  got  moss  enough  for  our  roof,  and  some- 
thing to  spare  for  below.  To-morrow  we  begin  to  strip 
off  the  outer-deck  planking  of  the  brig,  and  to  stack  it 
for  firewood.  It  is  cold  work,  hatches  open  and  no 
fires  going  ;  but  we  saved  time  enough  for  our  Sunday's 
exercises,  though  we  forego  its  rest. 

"It  is  twelve  months  to-day  since  I  returned  from 


356  GAME      DECREASING. 


the  weary  foot-tramp  that  determined  me  to  try  the 
winter  search.  Things  have  changed  since  then,  and 
the  prospect  ahead  is  less  cheery.  But  I  close  my 
pilgrim-experience  of  the  year  with  devout  gratitude 
for  the  blessings  it  has  registered,  and  an  earnest  faith 
in  the  support  it  pledges  for  the  times  to  come. 

"September  11,  Monday. — Our  stock  of  game  is 
down  to  a  mere  mouthful, — six  long-tailed  ducks  not 
larger  than  a  partridge,  and  three  ptarmigan.  The 
rabbits  have  not  yet  come  to  us,  and  the  foxes  seem 
tired  of  touching  our  trap-baits. 

"I  determined  last  Saturday  to  try  a  novel  expedient 
for  catching  seal.  Not  more  than  ten  miles  to  seaward 
the  icebergs  keep  up  a  rude  stream  of  broken  ice  and 
water,  and  the  seals  resort  there  in  scanty  numbers  to 
breathe.  I  drove  out  with  my  dogs,  taking  Hans 
along ;  but  we  found  the  spot  so  hemmed  in  by  loose 
and  fragile  ice  that  there  was  no  approaching  it.  The 
thermometer  was  8°,  and  a  light  breeze  increased  my 
difficulties. 

"7>eo  volente,  I  will  be  more  lucky  to-morrow.  I  am 
going  to  take  my  long  Kentucky  rifle,  the  kayack,  an 
Esquimaux  harpoon  with  its  attached  line  and  bladder, 
naligeit  and  awalitoh,  and  a  pair  of  large  snow-shoes  to 
boot.  My  plan  this  time  is  to  kneel  where  the  ice  is 
unsafe,  resting  my  weight  on  the  broad  surface  of  tlie 
snow-shoes,  Hans  following  astride  of  his  kayack,  as  a 
sort  of  life-preserver  in  case  of  breaking  in.  If  I  am 
fortunate  enough  to  stalk  within  gun-range,  Hans  will 
take  to  the  water  and  secure  the  game  before  it  sinks. 


AFTER      SEAL. 


157 


We  will  be  gone  for  some  days  probably,  tenting  it  in 
the  open  air;  but  our  sick  men — that  is  to  say,  all 
of  us — are  languishing  for  fresh  meat." 

I  started  with  Hans  and  five  dogs,  all  we  could 
muster  from  our  disabled  pack,  and  reached  the  ''  Pin- 
nacl}^  Berg"  in  a  single  hour's  run.  But  where  was 
the  water?  where  were  the  seal?    The  floes  had  closed. 


STARTING      TO      HUNT. 


and  the  crushed  ice  was  all  that  told  of  our  intended 
liunting-ground. 

Ascending  a  berg,  however,  we  could  see  to  the 
north  and  west  the  dark  cloud-stratus  which  betokens 
water.  It  ran  through  our  old  battle-ground,  the  "  Bergy 
Belt," — the  labyrinth  of  our  wanderings  after  the  frozen 
party  of  last  winter.  I  had  not  been  over  it  since,  and 
the  feeling  it  gave  me  was  any  thing  but  joyous. 


358 


THE      ICE-PL  A  IX. 


But  in  a  couple  of  hours  we  emerged  upon  a  plain 
unlimited  to  the  eye  and  smooth  as  a  billiard-table. 
Feathers  of  young  frosting  gave  a  plush-like  nap  to  its 
surface,  and  toward  the  horizon  dark  columns  of  frost- 
smoke  pointed  clearly  to  the  open  water.  This  ice  was 
firm  enough :  our  experience  satisfied  us  that  it  was 
not  a  very  recent  freezing.     AVe   pushed  on  without 


THE      I  C  E-PL  A  I  N. 


hesitation,  cheering  ourselves  with  the  expectation  of 
coming  every  minute  to  the  seals.  We  passed  a 
second  ice-growth :  it  was  not  so  strong  as  the  one  we 
had  just  come  over,  but  still  safe  for  a  party  like  ours. 
On  we  went,  at  a  brisker  gallop,  maybe  for  another 
mile,  when  Hans  sang  out,  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
"  Pusey !  pusejTuut !  seal,  seal !"  At  the  same  instan  t 
the  dogs  bounded  forward,  and,  as  I  looked  up,  I  saw 


ON     THE      YOUNG     ICE.  359 


crowds  of  gray  netsik,  the  rough  or  hispid  seal  of  the 
whalers,  disporting  in  an  open  sea  of  water. 

I  had  hardly  welcomed  the  spectacle  when  I  saw 
that  we  had  passed  upon  a  new  belt  of  ice  that  w^as 
obviously  unsafe.  To  the  right  and  left  and  front  was 
one  great  expanse  of  snow-flowered  ice.  The  nearest 
solid  floe  was  a  mere  lump,  which  stood  like  an  island 
in  the  white  level.  To  turn  was  impossible :  we  had 
to  keep  up  our  gait.     We  urged  on  the  dogs  with  whip 


SEALS     SPORTING. 


and  voice,  the  ice  rolling  like  leather  beneath  the 
sledge-runners :  it  was  more  than  a  mile  to  the  lump 
of  solid  ice.  Fear  gave  to  the  poor  beasts  their  utmost 
speed,  and  our  voices  were  soon  hushed  to  silence. 

The  suspense,  unrelieved  by  action  or  effort,  was  in- 
tolerable :  we  knew  that  there  was  no  remedy  but  to 
reach  the  floe,  and  that  every  thing  depended  upon 
our  dogs,  and  our  dogs  alone.  A  moment's  check 
would  plunge  the  whole  concern  into  the  rapid  tide- 
way :  no  presence  of  mind  or  resource  bodily  or  mental 
could   avail   us.     The   seals — for   we   were  now  near 


360  IN      THE      WATER. 


enough  to  see  their  expressive  faces — were  looking  at 
us  with  that  strange  curiosity  which  seems  to  be  their 
characteristic  expression :  we  must  have  passed  some 
fifty  of  them,  breast-high  out  of  water,  mocking  us  by 
their  self-complacency. 

This  desperate  race  against  fate  could  not  last : 
the  rolling  of  the  tough  salt-water  ice  terrified  our 
dogs ;  and  when  within  fifty  paces  from  the  floe 
they  paused.  The  left-hand  runner  went  through : 
our  leader  "  Toodlamick"  followed,  and  in  one  second 
the  entire  left  of  the  sledge  was  submerged.  My 
first  thought  was  to  liberate  the  dogs.  I  leaned  for- 
ward to  cut  poor  Tood's  traces,  and  the  next  minute 
was  swimming  in  a  little  circle  of  pasty  ice  and  water 
alongside  him.  Hans,  dear  good  fellow,  drew  near  to 
help  me,  uttering  piteous  expressions  in  broken  Eng- 
lish ;  but  I  ordered  him  to  throw  himself  on  his  belly, 
with  his  hands  and  legs  extended,  and  to  make  for 
the  island  by  cogging  himself  forward  with  his  jack- 
knife.  In  the  mean  time  —  a  mere  instant — I  was 
floundering  about  with  sledge,  dogs,  and  lines,  in  con- 
fused puddle  around  me. 

I  succeeded  in  cutting  poor  Tood's  lines  and  letting 
him  scramble  to  the  ice,  for  the  poor  fellow  was  drown- 
ing me  with  his  piteous  caresses,  and  made  my  way  for 
the  sledge ;  but  I  found  that  it  would  not  buoy  me,  and 
that  I  had  no  resource  but  to  try  the  circumference  of 
the  hole.  Around  this  I  paddled  faithfully,  the  miser- 
able ice  always  yielding  when  my  hopes  of  a  lodge- 
ment were  greatest.     During  this  process  I  enlarged 


SAFELY     LANDED.  361 


my  circle  of  operations  to  a  very  uncomfortable  dia- 
meter, and  was  beginning  to  feel  weaker  after  every 
effort.  Hans  meanwhile  had  reached  the  firm  ice,  and 
was  on  his  knees,  like  a  good  Moravian,  praying  inco- 
herently in  English  and  Esquimaux;  at  every  fresh 
crushing-in  of  the  ice  he  would  ejaculate  "  God !"  and 
when  I  recommenced  my  paddling  he  recommenced 
his  prayers. 

I  was  nearly  gone.  My  knife  had  been  lost  in 
cutting  out  the  dogs ;  and  a  spare  one  which  I  carried 
in  my  trousers-pocket  was  so  enveloped  in  the  wet 
skins  that  I  could  not  reach  it.  I  owed  my  extrication 
at  last  to  a  newly-broken  team-dog,  who  was  still  fast 
to  the  sledge  and  in  struggling  carried  one  of  the  run- 
ners chock  against  the  edge  of  the  circle.  All  my  pre- 
vious attempts  to  use  the  sledge'  as  a  bridge  had  failed, 
for  it  broke  through,  to  the  much  greater  injury  of  the 
ice.  I  felt  that  it  was  a  last  chance.  I  threw  myself 
on  my  back,  so  as  to  lessen  as  much  as  possible  my 
weight,  and  placed  the  nape  of  my  neck  against  the 
rim  or  edge  of  the  ice;  then  with  caution  slowly  bent 
my  leg,  and,  placing  the  ball  of  my  moccasined  foot 
against  the  sledge,  I  pressed  steadily  against  the  run- 
ner, listening  to  the  half-yielding  crunch  of  the  ice 
beneath. 

Presently  I  felt  that  my  head  was  pillowed  by  the 
ice,  and  that  my  wet  fur  jumper  was  sliding  up  the 
surface.  Next  came  my  shoulders;  they  were  fairly  on. 
One  more  decided  push,  and  I  was  launched  up  on  the 
ice  and  safe.     I  reached  the  ice-floe,  and  was  frictioned 


362  DEATH      OF     TIGER. 


by  Hans  with  frightful  zeal.  We  saved  all  the  dogs; 
but  the  sledge,  kayack,  tent,  guns,  snow-shoes,  and 
every  thing  besides,  were  left  behind.  The  thermo- 
meter at  8°  will  keep  them  frozen  fast  in  the  sledge 
till  we  can  come  and  cut  them  out. 

On  reaching  the  ship,  after  a  twelve-mile  trot,  I 
found  so  much  of  comfort  and  warm  welcome  that  I 
forgot  my  failure.  The  fire  was  lit  up,  and  one  of  our 
few  birds  slaughtered  forthwith.  It  is  w^ith  real  grati- 
tude that  I  look  back  upon  my  escape,  and  bless  the 
great  presiding  Goodness  for  the  very  many  resources 
which  remain  to  us. 

"  September  14,  Thursday. — Tiger,  our  best  remain- 
ing dog,  the  partner  of  poor  Bruiser,  was  seized  with  a 
fit,  ominously  resembling  the  last  winter's  curse.  In 
the  delirium  which  followed  his  seizure,  he  ran  into  the 
water  and  drowned  himself,  like  a  sailor  with  the  hor- 
rors.    The  other  dogs  are  all  doing  well." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE    ESQUIMAUX  —  LARCENY  —  THE   ARREST  —  THE    PUNISHMENT  — 

THE     TREATY '*  UNBROKEN     FAITH" MY     BROTHER RETURN 

FROM    A    HUNT  —  OUR    LIFE  —  ANOATOK A    WELCOME TREATY 

CONFIRMED. 

It  is,  I  suppose,  the  fortune  of  every  one  who  affects 
to  register  the  story  of  an  active  life,  that  his  record 
becomes  briefer  and  more  imperfect  in  proportion  as 
the  incidents  press  upon  each  other  more  rapidly  and 
with  increasing  excitement.  The  narrative  is  arrested 
as  soon  as  the  faculties  are  claimed  for  action,  and  the 
memory  brings  back  reluctantly  afterward  those  details 
which,  though  interesting  at  the  moment,  have  not  re- 
flected themselves  in  the  result.  I  find  that  my  journal 
is  exceedingly  meagre  for  the  period  of  our  anxious 
preparations  to  meet  the  winter,  and  that  I  have 
omitted  to  mention  the  course  of  circumstances  which 
led  us  step  by  step  into  familiar  communication  with 
the  Esquimaux. 

My  last  notice  of  this  strange  people,  whose  for- 
tunes became  afterward  so  closely  connected  with  our 
own,  was  at  the  time  of  Myouk's  escape  from  imprison- 

363 


364  THE     ESQUIMAUX. 


ment  on  board  the  brig.  Although  during  my  absence 
on  the  attempted  visit  to  Beechy  Island,  the  men  I  had 
left  behind  had  frequent  and  unrestrained  intercourse 
with  them,  I  myself  saw  no  natives  in  Rensselaer  Bay 
till  immediately  after  the  departure  of  Petersen  and  his 
companions.  Just  then,  by  a  coincidence  which  con- 
vinced me  how  closely  we  had  been  under  surveillance, 
a  party  of  three  made  their  appearance,  as  if  to  note 
for  themselves  our  condition  and  resources. 

Times  had  indeed  altered  with  us.  We  had  parted 
with  half  our  provisions,  half  our  boats  and  sledges, 
and  more  than  half  our  able-bodied  men.  It  looked 
very  much  as  if  we  were  to  lie  ensconced  in  our  ice- 
battered  citadel,  rarely  venturing  to  sally  out  for  explo- 
ration or  supplies.  We  feared  nothing  of  course  but 
the  want  of  fresh  meat,  and  it  was  much  less  important 
that  our  neighbors  should  fear  us  than  that  we  should 
secure  from  them  offices  of  kindness.  They  were  over- 
bearing sometimes,  and  needed  the  instruction  of 
rebuke;  but  I  treated  them  with  carefully-regulated 
hospitality. 

When  the  three  visitors  came  to  us  near  the  end 
of  August,  I  established  them  in  a  tent  below  deck, 
w^ith  a  copper  lamp,  a  cooking-basin,  and  a  liberal  sup- 
ply of  slush  for  fuel.  I  left  them  under  guard  when  I 
went  to  bed  at  two  in  the  morning,  contentedly  eating 
and  cooking  and  eating  again  without  the  promise  of 
an  intermission.  An  American  or  a  European  would 
have  slept  after  such  a  debauch  till  the  recognised  hour 
for  hock  and  seltzer-water.     But  our  o-uests  managed 


THE     LARCENY.  365 


to  elude  the  officer  of  the  deck  and  escape  unsearched. 
They  repaid  my  liberality  by  stealing  not  only  the 
lamp,  boiler,  and  cooking-pot  they  had  used  for  the 
feast,  but  Nannook  also,  my  best  dog.  If  the  rest  of 
my  team  had  not  been  worn  down  by  over-travel,  no 
doubt  they  would  have  taken  them  all.  Besides  this, 
we  discovered  the  next  morning  that  they  had  found 
the  buffalo-robes  and  India-rubber  cloth  which  McGary 
had  left  a  few  days  before  on  the  ice-foot  near  Six-mile 
Ravine,  and  had  added  the  whole  to  the  spoils  of  their 
visit. 

The  theft  of  these  articles  embarrassed  me.  I  was 
indisposed  to  take  it  as  an  act  of  hostility.  Their  pil- 
ferings  before  this  had  been  conducted  with  such  a 
superb  simplicity,  the  detection  followed  by  such  honest 
explosions  of  laughter,  that  I  could  not  help  thinking 
they  had  some  law  of  general  appropriation,  less  re- 
moved from  the  Lycurgan  than  the  Mosaic  code.  But 
it  was  plain  at  least  that  we  were  now  too  few  to  watch 
our  property  as  we  had  done,  and  that  our  gentleness 
was  to  some  extent  misunderstood. 

I  was  puzzled  how  to  inflict  punishment,  but  saw 
that  I  must  act  vigorously,  even  at  a  venture.  I  de- 
spatched my  two  best  walkers,  Morton  and  Riley,  as 
soon  as  I  heard  of  the  theft  of  the  stores,  with  orders 
to  make  all  speed  to  Anoatok,  and  overtake  the  thieves, 
who,  I  thought,  would  probabl}^  halt  there  to  rest. 
They  found  young  Myouk  making  himself  quite  com- 
fortable in  the  hut,  in  company  with  Sievu,  the  wife 
of  Metek,  and  Aningna,  the  wife  of  Marsinga,  and  my 


366 


THE      ARREST. 


buffalo-robes  already  tailored  into  kapetalis  on  their 
backs. 

A  continued  search  of  the  premises  recovered  the 
cooking-utensils,    and   a    number   of  other   things   of 


A  N  I  N  G  N  A. 


greater  or  less  value  that  we  had  not  missed  from  the 
brig.  With  the  prompt  ceremonial  which  outraged  law 
delights  in  among  the  officials  of  the  police  everywhere, 
the  women  were  stripped  and  tied;  and  then,  laden 
with  their  stolen  goods  and  as  much  walrus-beef  besides 


THE      PUNISHMENT.  367 


from  tlieir  o"\^ai  stores  as  would  pay  for  their  board, 
they  were  marched  on  the  instant  back  to  the  brig. 

The  thirty  miles  was  a  hard  walk  for  them ;  but 
they  did  not  complain,  nor  did  their  constabulary 
guardians,  who  had  marched  thirty  miles  already  to 
apprehend  them.  It  was  hardly  twenty-four  hours 
since  they  left  the  brig  with  their  booty  before  they 
were  prisoners  in  the  hold,  with  a  dreadful  white  man 
for  keeper,  who  never  addressed  to  them  a  word  that 
had  not  all  the  terrors  of  an  unintelligible  reproof,  and 
whose  scowl,  I  flatter  myself,  exhibited  a  well-arranged 
variety  of  menacing  and  demoniacal  expressions. 

They  had  not  even  the  companionship  of  Myouk. 
Him  I  had  despatched  to  Metek,  "head-man  of  Etah, 
and  others,"  with  the  message  of  a  melo-dramatic 
tyrant,  to  negotiate  for  their  ransom.  For  fi.ve  long 
days  the  women  had  to  sigh  and  sing  and  cry  in  soli- 
tary converse, — their  appetite  continuing  excellent,  it 
should  be  remarked,  though  mourning  the  while  a 
rightfully-impending  doom.  At  last  the  great  Metek 
arrived.  He  brought  with  him  Ootuniah,  another  man 
of  elevated  social  position,  and  quite  a  sledge-load  of 
knives,  tin  cups,  and  other  stolen  goods,  refuse  of 
wood  and  scraps  of  iron,  the  sinful  prizes  of  many 
covetings. 

I  may  pass  over  our  peace  conferences  and  the  indi- 
rect advantages  which  I  of  course  derived  from  having 
the  opposing  powers  represented  in  my  own  capital. 
Bat  the  splendors  of  our  Arctic  centre  of  civilization, 
with  its  wonders  of  art  and  science, — our  "  fire-death" 


368  THE      TREATY. 


ordnance  included, — could  not  all  of  them  impress 
Metek  so  much  as  the  intimations  he  had  received 
of  our  superior  physical  endowments.  Nomads  as 
they  are,  these  people  know  better  than  all  the  world 
besides  what  endurance  and  energy  it  requires  to 
brave  the  moving  ice  and  snow-drifts.  Metek  thought, 
no  doubt,  that  our  strength  was  gone  with  the  with- 
drawing party :  but  the  fact  that  within  ten  hours 
after  the  loss  of  our  buffalo-skins  we  had  marched  to 
their  hut,  seized  three  of  their  culprits,  and  marched 
them  back  to  the  brig  as  prisoners, — such  a  sixty  miles' 
achievement  as  this  they  thoroughly  understood.  It 
confirmed  them  in  the  faith  that  the  whites  are  and 
of  right  ought  to  be  everywhere  the  dominant  tribe. 

The  protocol  was  arranged  without  difficulty,  though 
not  without  the  accustomed  number  of  adjournments 
for  festivity  and  repose.  It  abounded  in  protestations 
of  power,  fearlessness,  and  good-will  by  each  of  the 
contracting  parties,  which  meant  as  much  as  such  pro- 
testations usually  do  on  both  sides  the  Arctic  circle. 
I  could  give  a  summary  of  it  without  invading  the 
privacy  of  a  diplomatic  bureau,  for  I  have  notes  of  it 
that  were  taken  by  a  subordinate  ;  but  I  prefer  passing 
at  once  to  the  reciprocal  engagements  in  which  it 
resulted. 

On  the  part  of  the  Inuit,  the  Esquimaux,  they  were 
after  this  fashion  : — 

"  We  promise  that  we  will  not  steal.  We  promise 
we  will  bring  you  fresh  meat.  We  promise  we  will 
sell  or  lend  you  dogs.     We  will   keep  you  company 


unbrokejst    faith."  369 


whenever  you  want  us,  and  show  you  where  to  find 
the  game." 

On  the  part  of  the  Kablunali,  the  white  men,  the 
stipulation  was  of  this  ample  equivalent : — 

"  We  promise  that  we  will  not  visit  you  with  death 
or  sorcery,  nor  do  you  any  hurt  or  mischief  whatsoever. 
We  will  shoot  for  you  on  our  hunts.  You  shall  be 
made  welcome  aboard  ship.  We  will  give  you  pre- 
sents of  needles,  pins,  two  kinds  of  knife,  a  hoop,  three 
bits  of  hard  wood,  some  fat,  an  awl,  and  some  sewing- 
thread  ;  and  we  will  trade  with  you  of  these  and  every 
thing  else  you  want  for  walrus  and  seal-meat  of  the 
first  quality." 

And  the  closing  formula  might  have  read,  if  the 
Esquimaux  political  system  had  included  reading 
among  its  qualifications  for  diplomacy,  in  this  time- 
consecrated  and,  in  civilized  regions,  veracious  assur- 
ance : — 

"  AVe,  the  high  contracting  parties,  pledge  ourselves 
now  and  forever  brothers  and  friends. 

This  treaty — which,  though  I  have  spoken  of  it 
jocosely,  was  really  an  affair  of  much  interest  to  us — 
was  ratified,  "svitli  Hans  and  Morton  as  my  accredited 
representatives,  by  a  full  assembly  of  the  people  at 
Etah.  All  our  future  intercourse  was  conducted  under 
it.  It  was  not  solemnized  by  an  oath;  but  it  was 
never  broken.  We  went  to  and  fro  between  the 
villages  and  the  brig,  paid  our  visits  of  courtesy  and 
necessity  on  both  sides,  met  each  other  in  hunting 
parties  on  the  floe  and  the  ice-foot,  organized  a  general 

Vol.  I.— 24 


370 


MY     BROTHER. 


community  of  interests,  and  really,  I  believe,  esta- 
blished some  personal  attachments  deserving  of  the 
name.  As  long  as  we  remained  prisoners  of  the  ice, 
we  were  indebted  to  them  for  invaluable  counsel  in 
relation  to  our  hunting  expeditions;  and  in  the  joint 
hunt  we  shared  alike,  according  to  their  own  laws. 


HANGING     GLACIER. 


Our  dogs  were  in  one  sense  common  property;  and 
often  have  they  robbed  themselves  to  oifer  supplies 
of  food  to  our  starving  teams.  They  gave  us  sup- 
plies of  meat  at  critical  periods :  we  were  able  to  do 
as  much  for  them.  They  learned  to  look  on  us  only 
as  benefactors ;  and,  I  know,  mourned  our  departure 
bitterly.  The  greeting  which  they  gave  my  brother 
John,  when  he  came  out  after  me  to  Etah  with  the 


RETURN     FROM      A     HUNT.  371 


Rescue  Expedition,  should  be  of  itself  enough  to  sa- 
tisfy me  of  this.  I  should  be  glad  to  borrow  from  his 
ingenuous  narrative  the  story  of  his  meeting  mth 
Myouk  and  Metek  and  Ootuniah,  and  of  the  almost 
affectionate  confidence  with  which  the  maimed  and 
sick  invited  his  professional  succor,  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  elder  "  Docto  Kayen." 

"September  16,  Saturday. — Back  last  night  from  a 
walrus-hunt.  I  brought  in  the  spoil  Avith  my  dogs, 
leaving  Hans  and  Ohlsen  to  follow  afoot.  This  Mars- 
ton  rifle  is  an  admirable  substitute  for  the  primitive 
lance-head.  It  killed  at  the  first  fire.  Five  nights' 
camping  out  in  the  snow,  with  hard-working  days  be- 
tween, have  made  me  ache  a  little  in  the  joints;  but, 
strange  to  say,  I  feel  better  than  when  I  left  the  vessel. 
This  climate  exacts  heavy  feeding,  but  it  invites  to 
muscular  energy.  McGary  and  Morton  are  off  at 
Anoatok.  From  what  I  gathered  on  the  hunt,  they 
will  find  the  council  very  willing  to  ratify  our  alliance. 
But  they  should  have  been  at  home  before  this. 

"September  17,  Sunday. — Writing  by  this  miserable 
flicker  of  my  pork-fat  lamp,  I  can  hardly  steady  pen, 
paper,  or  thought.  All  hands  have  rested  after  a  heavy 
week's  work,  which  has  advanced  us  nobly  in  our  ar- 
rangements for  the  winter.  The  season  is  by  our 
tables  at  least  three  weeks  earlier  than  the  last,  and 
every  thing  indicates  a  severe  ordeal  ahead  of  us. 

"Just  as  we  were  finishing  our  chapter  this  morning 
in  the  'Book  of  Ruth,'  McGarj^  and  Morton  came  in 
triumphantly,  j)retty  well  worn   down  by  their  fifty 


372  NOMADIC      LIFE. 


miles'  travel,  but  with  good  news,  and  a  flipper  of 
walrus  that  must  weigh  some  forty  pounds.  Ohlsen 
and  Hans  are  in  too.  They  arrived  as  we  were  sitting 
down  to  celebrate  the  Anoatok  ratification  of  our  treaty 
of  the  Gth. 

"It  is  a  strange  life  we  are  leading.  We  are  abso- 
lutely nomads,  so  far  as  there  can  be  any  thing  of 
pastoral  life  in  this  region ;  and  our  wild  encounter  with 
the  elements  seems  to  agree  with  us  all.  Our  table-talk 
at  supper  was  as  merry  as  a  marriage-bell.  One  party 
was  just  in  from  a  seventy-four  miles'  trip  with  the 
dogs;  another  from  a  foot-journey  of  a  hundred  and 
sixty,  with  five  nights  on  the  floe.  Each  had  his  story 
to  tell ;  and  while  the  story  was  telling  some  at  least 
were  projecting  new  expeditions.  I  have  one  myself 
in  my  mind's  eye,  that  may  peradventure  cover  some 
lines  of  my  journal  before  the  mnter  ends. 

"McGary  and  Morton  sledged  it  along  the  ice-foot 
completely  round  the  Reach,  and  made  the  huts  by  ten 
o'clock  the  night  after  they  left  us.  They  found  only 
three  men,  Ootuniah,  our  elfish  rogue  Myouk,  and  a 
stranger  who  has  not  been  with  us  that  we  know  of. 
It  looked  at  first  a  little  doubtful  whether  the  visit  was 
not  to  be  misunderstood.  Myouk  particularly  was  an 
awkward  party  to  negotiate  with.  He  had  been  our 
prisoner  for  stealing  only  a  little  while  before,  and  at 
this  very  moment  is  an  escaped  hostage.  He  was  in 
pawn  to  us  for  a  lot  of  walrus-beef,  as  indemnity  for 
our  boat.  He  thought  naturally  enough  that  the  visit 
might   have   something   more    than   a    representative 


RECEPTION     AT     ANOATOK.  373 


bearing  on  his  interests.  Both  our  men  had  been  his 
jailers  on  board  the  brig,  and  he  was  the  first  person 
they  met  as  they  came  upon  the  village. 

"But  when  he  found,  by  McGary's  expressive  panto- 
mime, that  the  visit  was  not  specially  to  him,  and  that 
the  first  appeal  was  to  his  hospitality  and  his  fellows', 
his  entire  demeanor  underwent  a  change.  He  seemed 
to  take  a  new  character,  as  if,  said  Morton,  he  had 
dropped  a  mask.  He  gave  them  welcome  with  un- 
mixed cordiality,  carried  them  to  his  hut,  cleared  away 
the  end  farthest  from  the  opening  for  their  reception, 
and  filled  up  the  fire  of  moss  and  blubber. 

"The  others  joined  him,  and  the  attention  of  the 
whole  settlement  was  directed  at  once  to  the  wants  of 
the  visitors.  Their  wet  boots  were  turned  toward  the 
fire,  their  woollen  socks  wrung  out  and  placed  on  a 
heated  stone,  dry  grass  was  padded  round  their  feet, 
and  the  choicest  cuts  of  walrus-liver  were  put  into  the 
cooking-pot.  Whatever  might  be  the  infirmity  of  their 
notions  of  honesty,  it  was  plain  that  we  had  no  lessons 
to  give  them  in  the  virtues  of  hospitable  welcome. 
Indeed,  there  was  a  frankness  and  cordiality  in  the 
mode  of  receiving  their  guests,  that  explained  the  un- 
reserve and  conscious  security  which  they  showed 
when  they  first  visited  us. 

"I  could  hardly  guess  at  that  time,  when  we  saw 
them  practising  antics  and  grimaces  among  the  rocks, 
what  was  the  meaning  of  their  harlequin  gestures,  and 
how  they  could  venture  afterward  so  fearlessly  on 
board.     I  have  understood  the  riddle  since.     It  was  a 


374 


TREATY     CONFIRMED. 


display  of  their  powers  of  entertainment,  intended  to 
solicit  from  us  a  reception;  and  the  invitation  once 
given,  all  their  experience  and  impulses  assured  them 
of  safety. 

"Every  thing  they  had,  cooking-utensils,  snow-melt- 
ing stone,  scanty  weapons  of  the  chase,  jDersonal  ser- 
\dce,  pledges  of  grateful  welcome, — they  gave  them  all. 


KOTLIK,   WITH   OUR   OWN   KOLUP   SOOT. 


They  confirmed  all  Metek's  engagements,  as  if  the 
whole  favor  was  for  them;  and  when  our  party  was 
coming  away  they  placed  on  the  sledge,  seemingly  as 
a  matter  of  course,  all  the  meat  that  was  left. 

"September  20,  "Wednesday. — The  natives  are  really 
acting  up  to  contract.  They  are  on  board  to-day,  and 
I  have  been  off  with  a  party  of  them  on  a  hunt  inland. 
We  had  no  great  luck;    the  weather  was  against  us, 


HUNT     WITH      ALLIES. 


375 


and  there  are  signs  of  a  gale.  The  thermometer  has 
been  two  degrees  below  zero  for  the  entire  twenty-four 
hours.     This  is  September  with  a  vengeance  ! 

"September  22,  Friday. — I  am  off  for  the  walrus- 
grounds  with  our  wald  allies.  It  will  be  my  sixth 
trip.  I  know  the  country  and  its  landmarks  now  as 
well  as  any  of  them,  and  can  name  every  rock  and 
chasm  and  watercourse,  in  night  or  fog,  just  as  I  could 
the  familiar  spots  about  the  dear  Old  Mills  where  I 
passed  my  childhood. 

"  The  weather  does  not  promise  well ;  but  the  state 
of  our  larder  makes  the  jaunt  necessary." 


SECTION       OF      WINTER      APARTMENT. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

WALRUS-GROUNDS LOST     ON     THE     ICE A     BREAK     UP  —  IGLOE 

OP    ANOATOK  —  ITS    GARNITURE  —  CREATURE    COMPORTS  —  ESQUI- 
MAUX   MUSIC  —  USAGES   OP    THE    TABLE NEW   LONDON   AVENUE 

— SCANT  DIET  LIST — BEAR  AND   CUB — A  HUNT — CLOSE  QUARTERS 

— BE AR-PIGHTING BEAR-HABITS BE AR' S  LIVER  —  RATS  —  THE 

TERRIER    POX THE   ARCTIC    HARE THE    ICE-FOOT    CANOPY  —  A 

WOLP — DOGS   AND   WOLVES — BEAR  AND   FOX — THE   NATIVES  AND 
OURSELVES — WINTER  QUARTERS — MORTON's  RETURN — THE  LIGHT. 

"September  29,  Friday. — I  returned  last  night  from 
Anoatok,  after  a  journey  of  much  risk  and  exposure, 
that  I  should  have  avoided  but  for  the  insuperable 
obstinacy  of  our  savage  friends. 

"I  set  out  for  the  walrus-grounds  at  noon,  by  the 
track  of  the  'Wind  Point'  of  Anoatok,  known  to  us  as 
Esquimaux  Point.  I  took  the  light  sledge,  and,  in 
addition  to  the  five  of  my  available  team,  harnessed  in 
two  animals  belonging  to  the  Esquimaux.  Ootuniah, 
Myouk,  and  the  dark  stranger  accompanied  me,  with 
Morton  and  Hans. 

"  Our  sledge  was  overladen :  I  could  not  persuade 
the  Esquimaux  to  reduce  its  weight;  and  the  conse- 
quence was  that  we  failed  to  reach  Force  Bay  in  time 

376 


LOST     ON     THE     ICE.  377 


for  a  daylight  crossing.  To  follow  the  indentations  of 
the  land  was  to  make  the  travel  long  and  dangerous. 
We  trusted  to  the  tracks  of  our  former  journeys,  and 
pushed  out  on  the  ice.  But  the  darkness  came  on  us 
rapidly,  and  the  snow  began  to  drift  before  a  heavy 
north  wind. 

"At  about  10  P.M.  we  had  lost  the  land,  and,  while 
driving  the  dogs  rapidly,  all  of  us  running  alongside  of 
them,  we  took  a  wrong  direction,  and  travelled  out 
toward  the  floating  ice  of  the  Sound.  There  was  no 
guide  to  the  points  of  the  compass;  our  Esquimaux 
were  completely  at  fault;  and  the  alarm  of  the  dogs, 
which  became  every  moment  more  manifest,  extended 
itself  to  our  party.  The  instinct  of  a  sledge-dog  makes 
him  perfectly  aware  of  unsafe  ice,  and  I  know  nothing 
more  subduing  to  a  man  than  the  warnings  of  an 
unseen  peril  conveyed  by  the  instinctive  fears  of  the 
lower  animals. 

"  We  had  to  keep  moving,  for  we  could  not  camp  in 
the  gale,  that  blew  around  us  so  fiercely  that  we  could 
scarcely  hold  down  the  sledge.  But  we  moved  with 
caution,  feeling  our  way  with  the  tent-poles,  which  I 
distributed  among  the  party  for  the  purpose.  A  mur- 
mur had  reached  my  ear  for  some  time  in  the  cadences 
of  the  storm,  steadier  and  deeper,  I  thought,  than  the 
tone  of  the  wind :  on  a  sudden  it  struck  me  that  I 
heard  the  noise  of  waves,  and  that  we  must  be  coming 
close  on  the  open  water.  I  had  hardly  time  for  the 
hurried  order,  '  Turn  the  dogs,'  before  a  wreath  of  wet 
frost^smoke  swept  over  us,  and  the  sea  showed  itself. 


o/ 


8  ABREAKUP. 


with  a  great  fringe  of  foam,  hardly  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
ahead.  We  could  now  guess  our  position  and  its  dan- 
gers. The  ice  was  breaking  up  l^efore  the  storm,  and 
it  was  not  certain  that  even  a  direct  retreat  in  the 
face  of  the  gale  would  extricate  us.  I  determined 
to  run  to  the  south  for  Godsend  Island.  The  floes 
were  heavy  in  that  direction,  and  less  likely  to  give 
way  in  a  northerly  gale.  It  was  at  best  a  dreary 
venture. 

"  The  surf-line  kept  encroaching  on  us  till  we  could 
feel  the  ice  undulating  under  our  feet.  Very  soon  it 
began  to  give  way.  Lines  of  hummocks  rose  before 
us,  and  w^e  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  between  them  as 
they  closed.  Escaping  these,  we  toiled  over  the 
crushed  fragments  that  lay  between  them  and  the 
shore,  stumbling  over  the  projecting  crags,  or  sinking 
in  the  water  that  rose  among  them.  It  was  too  dark 
to  see  the  island  which  we  were  steering  for ;  but  the 
black  loom  of  a  lofty  cape  broke  the  line  of  the  horizon 
and  served  as  a  landmark.  The  dogs,  relieved  from 
the  burden  of  carrying  us,  moved  with  more  spirit. 
We  began  to  draw  near  the  shore,  the  ice-storm  still 
raging  behind  us.  But  our  difiiculties  were  only  reach- 
ing their  climax.  We  knew  as  icemen  that  the  access 
to  the  land-ice  from  the  floe  was,  under  the  most  favor- 
ing circumstances,  both  toilsome  and  dangerous.  The 
rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  always  breaks  up  the  ice  at 
the  margin  of  the  ice-belt  in  a  tangle  of  irregular,  half- 
floating  masses;  and  these  were  now  surging  under 
the  energies  of  the  gale.     It  was  pitchy  dark.     I  per- 


ESQUIxMAUX      HOMESTEAD.  379 


suadecl  Ootuniah,  the  eldest  of  the  Esquimaux,  to 
have  a  tent-pole  lashed  horizontally  across  his  shoul- 
ders. I  gave  him  the  end  of  a  line,  which  I  had  fast- 
ened at  the  other  end  round  my  waist.  The  rest  of 
the  party  followed  him. 

"As  I  moved  ahead,  feeling  round  me  for  a  prac- 
ticable way,  Ootuniah  followed ;  and  when  a  table  of 
ice  was  found  large  enough,  the  others  would  urge 
forward  the  dogs,  pushing  the  sledge  themselves,  or 
clinging  to  it,  as  the  moment  prompted.  We  had  acci- 
dents of  course,  some  of  them  menacing  for  the  time, 
but  none  to  be  remembered  for  their  consequences ; 
and  at  last  one  after  another  succeeded  in  clambering 
after  me  upon  the  ice-foot,  driving  the  dogs  before 
them. 

"Providence  had  been  our  guide.  The  shore  on 
which  we  landed  was  Anoatok,  not  four  hundred  yards 
from  the  familiar  Esquimaux  homestead.  With  a 
shout  of  joy,  each  man  in  his  own  dialect,  we  hastened 
to  the  'wind-loved  spot;'  and  in  less  than  an  hour,  our 
lamps  burning  cheerfully,  we  were  discussing  a  famous 
stew  of  walrus-steaks,  none  the  less  relished  for  an 
unbroken  ice-walk  of  forty-eight  miles  and  twenty  halt- 
less  hours. 

"  When  I  reached  the  hut,  our  stranger  Esquimaux, 
whose  name  we  found  to  be  Awahtok,  or  'Seal-bladder 
float,'  was  striking  a  fire  from  two  stones,  one  a  plain 
piece  of  angular  milky  quartz,  held  in  the  right  hand, 
the  other  apparently  an  oxide  of  iron.  He  struck 
them  together  after  the  true  tinder-box  fashion,  throw- 


380  IGLOE     OF     ANOATOK. 


ing  a  scanty  supply  of  sparks  on  a  tinder  composed  of 
the  silky  down  of  the  mllow-catkins,  [S.  lanata,)  which 
he  held  on  a  lump  of  dried  moss. 

"The  hut  or  igloe  at  Anoatok  was  a  single  rude 
elliptical  apartment,  built  not  unskilfully  of  stone,  the 
outside  lined  with  sods.  At  its  farther  end  a  rude 
platform,  also  of  stone,  was  lifted  about  a  foot  above 
the  entering  floor.  The  roof  formed  something  of  a 
curve :  it  was  composed  of  flat  stones,  remarkably  large 
and  heavy,  arranged  so  as  to  overlap  each  other,  but 
apparently  without  any  intelligent  application  of  the 
principle  of  the  arch.  The  height  of  this  cave-like 
abode  barely  permitted  one  to  sit  upright.  Its  length 
was  eight  feet,  its  breadth  seven  feet,  and  an  expansion 
of  the  tunnelled  entrance  made  an  appendage  of  per- 
haps two  feet  more. 

"The  true  winter  entrance  is  called  the  tossut.  It 
is  a  walled  tunnel,  ten  feet  long,  and  so  narrow  that  a 
man  can  hardly  crawl  along  it.  It  opens  outside  below 
the  level  of  the  igloe,  into  which  it  leads  by  a  gradual 
ascent. 

"Time  had  done  its  work  on  the  igloe  of  Anoatok, 
as  among  the  palatial  structures  of  more  southern  de- 
serts. The  entire  front  of  the  dome  had  fallen  in, 
closing  up  the  tossut,  and  forcing  us  to  enter  at  the  soli- 
tary window  above  it.  The  breach  was  large  enough 
to  admit  a  sledge-team  j  but  our  Arctic  comrades  showed 
no  anxiety  to  close  it  up.  Their  clothes  saturated  with 
the  freezing  water  of  the  floes,  these  iron  men  gathered 
themselves  round  the  blubber-fire  and  steamed  away 


ITS     GARNITURE. 


381 


in  apparent  comfort.  The  only  departure  from  their 
practised  routine,  which  the  bleak  night  and  open  roof 
seemed  to  suggest  to  them,  was  that  they  did  not  strijD 
themselves  naked  before  coming  into  the  hut,  and  hang 
up  their  vestments  in  the  air  to  dry,  like  a  votive  oflfer- 
i]ig  to  the  god  of  the  sea. 

"  Their  kitchen-implements 
were  even  more  simple  than 
our  own.  A  rude  saucer- 
shaped  cup  of  seal-skin,  to 
gather  and  hold  water  in,  was 

the  solitary  utensil  that  could  be  dignified  as  table- 
furniture.  A  flat  stone,  a  fixture  of  the  hut,  supported 
by  other  stones  just  above  the  shoulder-blade  of  a  wal- 


SEAL-SKIN      CUP. 


SNOW-MELTER,      ANOATOK. 


rus, — the  stone  slightly  inclined,  the  cavity  of  the  bone 
large  enough  to  hold  a  moss-wick  and  some  blubber ; — 
a  square  block  of  snow  was  placed  on  the  stone,  and, 


382 


CREATURE  COMFORTS. 


as  the  hot  smoke  circled  round  it,  the  seal-skin  saucer 
caught  the  water  that  dripped  from  the  edge.  They 
had  no  vessel  for  boiling ;  what  they  did  not  eat  raw 
they  baked  upon  a  hot  stone.  A  solitary  coil  of  walrus- 
line,  fastened  to  a  movable  lance-head,  (noon-ghak,) 
with  the  well-worn  and  well-soaked  clothes  on  their 
backs,  completed  the  inventory  of  their  effects. 


STAND       OF      WALRUS-BONES 


"  We  felt  that  we  were  more  civilized  than  our  poor 
cousins,  as  we  fell  to  work  making  ourselves  comfort- 
able after  our  own  fashion.  The  dais  was  scraped,  and 
its  accumulated  filth  of  years  removed ;  a  canvas  tent 
was  folded  double  over  the  dry,  frozen  stones,  our  buf- 
falo-bag spread  over  this,  and  dry  socks  and  moccasins 
were  drawn  from  under  our  wet  overclothes.  My 
copper  lamp,  a  true  Berzelius  Argand,  invaluable  for 


ESQUIMAUX     MUSIC.  383 


short  journeys,  soon  flamed  with  a  cheerful  fire.  Tlie 
soup-pot,  the  walrus-steak,  and  the  hot  coffee  were  the 
next  things  to  be  thought  of;  and,  while  these  were 
getting  ready,  an  India-rubber  floor-cloth  was  fastened 
over  the  gaping  entrance  of  the  cave. 

"  During  our  long  march  and  its  series  of  ice-fights 
we  had  taken  care  to  manifest  no  weariness,  and  had, 
indeed,  borne  both  Ootuniah  and  Myouk  at  times  upon 
our  shoulders.  We  showed  no  signs  either  of  cold ;  so 
that  all  this  preparation  and  rich  store  of  appliances 
could  not  be  attributed  by  the  Esquimaux  to  effemi- 
nacy or  inferior  power.  I  could  see  that  they  were 
profoundly  impressed  with  a  conviction  of  our  supe- 
riority, the  last  feeling  which  the  egotistical  self-conceit 
of  savage  life  admits. 

"1  felt  sure  now  that  they  were  our  more  than 
sworn  friends.  They  sang  'Amna  Ayah'  for  us,  their 
rude,  monotonous  song,  till  our  ears  cracked  with  the 
discord;    and   improvised   a   special   eulogistic   chant, 


Am  -  na  -  yah,  Am  -  na  -  yah,  Am    -    na  -  yah,  Am    -    na  -  yah, 

which  they  repeated  over  and  over  again  with  laugh- 
able gravity  of  utterance,  subsiding  always  into  the 
refrain  of  ^  NaJegah  !  nalegah  !  ncdegalc-soah  f  '  Captain  ! 
captain !  great  captain  !'  They  nicknamed  and  adopted 
all  of  us  as  members  of  their  fraternity,  with  grave 
and  abundant  form;  reminding  me  through  all  their 


384 


SOUND     ASLEEP. 


mummery,  solemn  and  ludicrous  at  once,  of  the  analo- 
gous ceremonies  of  our  North  American  Indians. 

"  The  chant  and  the  feed  and  the  ceremony  all  com- 
pleted, Hans,  Morton,  and  myself  crawled  feet^foremost 
into    our    buffalo-bag,    and   Ootuniah,    Awahtok,    and 


PARHELIA,      DRAWN      BY      MR.     S  0  N  T  A  G. 


Myouk  flung  themselves  outside  the  skin  between  us. 
The  last  I  heard  of  them  or  any  thing  else  was  the 
renewed  chorus  of  '  Nalegak !  nalegak !  nalegak-soak !' 
mingling  itself  sleepily  in  my  dreams  with  school-boy 
memories  of  Aristophanes  and  The  Frogs.  I  slept 
eleven  hours. 

"  They  were  up  long  before  us,  and  had  breakfasted 


USAGES  OF  THE   TABLE.         385 


on  raw  meat  cut  from  a  large  joint,  which  lay,  without 
regard  to  cleanliness,  among  the  deposits  on  the  floor 
of  the  igloe.  Their  mode  of  eating  was  ingeniously 
active.  They  cut  the  meat  in  long  strips,  introduced 
one  end  into  the  mouth,  swallowed  it  as  far  as  the 
powers  of  deglutition  would  allow,  and  then,  cutting  off 
the  protruding  portion  close  to  the  lips,  prepared  them- 
selves for  a  second  mouthful.  It  was  really  a  feat  of 
address :  those  of  us  who  tried  it  failed  awkwardly ; 
and  yet  I  have  seen  infants  in  the  mother's  hood,  not 
two  years  old,  who  managed  to  perform  it  without 
accident." 

I  pass  over  the  story  of  the  hunt  that  followed.  It 
had  nothing  to  distinguish  it  from  many  others,  and 
I  find  in  my  journal  of  a  few  days  later  the  fresh  nar- 
rative of  Morton,  after  he  had  seen  one  for  the  first 
time. 

My  next  extracts  show  the  progress  of  our  winter 
arrangements. 

"September  30,  Saturday. — We  have  been  clearing 
up  on  the  ice.  Our  system  for  the  winter  has  not  the 
dignity  of  a  year  ago.  We  have  no  Butler  Storehouse, 
no  Medary,  no  Fern  Rock,  with  their  appliances.  We 
are  ten  men  in  a  casemate,  with  all  our  energies  con- 
centrated against  the  enemy  outside. 

"Our  beef-house  is  now  a  pile  of  barrels  holding  our 
water-soaked  beef  and  pork.  Flour,  beans,  and  dried 
apples  make  a  quadrangular  blockhouse  on  the  floe : 
from  one  corner  of  it  rises  our  flagstafi*,  lighting  up  the 
dusky  gray  with   its   red  and  white   ensign,  only  on 

Vol.  I.— 2ri 


386  NEW     LONDON     AVENUE. 


Sunday  giving  place  to  the  Henry  Grinnell  flag,  of 
happy  memories. 

"From  this,  along  an  avenue  that  opens  abeam  of 
the  brig, — New  London  Avenue,  named  after  McGary's 
town  at  home, — are  our  boats  and  square  cordage. 
Outside  of  all  these  is  a  magnificent  hut  of  barrel- 
frames  and  snow,  to  accommodate  our  Esquimaux 
visitors;  the  only  thing  about  it  exposed  to  hazard 
being  the  tempting  woodwork.  What  remains  to 
complete  our  camp-plot  is  the  rope  barrier  that  is  to 
mark  out  our. little  curtilage  around  the  vessel:  this, 
when  finished,  is  to  be  the  dividing-line  between  us 
and  the  rest  of  mankind. 

"There  is  something  in  the  simplicity  of  all  this, 
'simplex  munditiis,'  which  might  commend  itself  to 
the  most  rigorous  taste.  Nothing  is  wasted  on  orna- 
ment. 

"  October  4,  "Wednesday. — I  sent  Hans  and  Hickey 
two  days  ago  out  to  the  hunting-ice,  to  see  if  the 
natives  have  had  any  luck  with  the  walrus.  They  are 
back  to  night  with  bad  news, — no  meat,  no  Esquimaux. 
These  strange  children  of  the  snow  have  made  a  mys- 
terious flitting.  Where  or  how,  it  is  hard  to  guess,  for 
they  have  no  sledges.  They  cannot  have  travelled 
very  far;  and  yet  they  have  such  unquiet  impulses, 
that,  once  on  the  track,  no  civilized  man  can  say  where 
they  will  bring  up. 

"Ohlsen  had  just  completed  a  sledge,  fashioned  like 
the  Smith  Sound  Icommetik,  with  an  improved  curva- 
ture  of    the   runners.      It   weighs    only   twenty-four 


BEAR     AND     CUB.  387 


pounds,  and,  though  I  think  it  too  short  for  light 
draught,  it  is  just  the  article  our  Etali  neighbors 
would  delight  in  for  their  land-portages.  I  intended  it 
for  them,  as  a  great  price  for  a  great  stock  of  walrus- 
meat:  but  the  other  parties  to  the  bargain  have  flown. 

''  October  5,  Thursday. — We  are  nearly  out  of  fresh 
meat  again,  one  rabbit  and  three  ducks  being  our  sum 
total.  We  have  been  on  short  allowance  for  several 
days.  What  vegetables  we  have — the  dried  apples  and 
peaches,  and  pickled  cabbage — have  lost  much  of  their 
anti-scorbutic  virtue  by  constant  use.  Our  spices  are 
all  gone.  Except  four  small  bottles  of  horse-radish, 
our  carte  is  comprised  in  three  lines — bread,  beef,  pork. 

^'I  must  be  off  after  these  Esquimaux.  They  cer- 
tainly have  meat,  and  wherever  they  have  gone  w^e  can 
follow.  Once  upon  their  trail,  our  hungrj^  instincts 
will  not  risk  being  baffled.  I  will  stay  only  long 
enough  to  complete  my  latest  root^beer  brewage.  Its 
basis  is  the  big  crawling  willow,  the  miniature  giant  of 
our  Arctic  forests,  of  which  we  laid  in  a  stock  some 
weeks  ago.  It  is  quite  pleasantly  bitter,  and  I  hope 
to  get  it  fermenting  in  the  deck-house  without  extra 
fuel,  by  heat  from  below. 

"October  7,  Saturday. — Lively  sensation,  as  they 
say  in  the  land  of  olives  and  chamj)agne.  'Nannook, 
nannook!' — 'A  bear,  a  bear!' — Hans  and  Morton  in  a 
breath ! 

"To  the  scandal  of  our  domestic  regulations,  the 
guns  were  all  impracticable.  While  the  men  were 
loading   and   capping   anew,  I  seized   my  pillow-com- 


390  CAPTURE     OF      THE      CUB. 


couple  of  rifle-balls.  She  staggered  in  front  of  lier 
young  one,  faced  us  in  deathlike  defiance,  and  only 
sank  Avhen  pierced  by  six  more  bullets. 

"We  found  nine  balls  in  skinning  her  body.  She 
was  of  medium  size,  very  lean,  and  without  a  j)article 
of  food  in  her  stomach.  Hunger  must  have  caused  her 
boldness.  The  net  weight  of  the  cleansed  carcass  was 
three  hundred  pounds;  that  of  the  entire  animal,  six 
hundred  and  fifty;  her  length,  but  seven  feet  eight 
inches. 

"Bears  in  this  lean  condition  are  much  the  most 
palatable  food.  The  impregnation  of  fatty  oil  through 
the  cellular  tissue  makes  a  well-fed  bear  nearly  uneat- 
able. The  flesh  of  a  famished  beast,  although  less 
nutritious  as  a  fuel  diet,  is  rather  sweet  and  tender 
than  otherwise. 

"The  little  cub  is  larger  than  the  adjective  implies. 
She  was  taller  than  a  dog,  and  weighs  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  pounds.  Like  Morton's  bear  in  Kennedy's 
Channel,  she  sprang  upon  the  corpse  of  her  mother, 
and  raised  a  woful  lamentation  over  her  wounds.  She 
repelled  my  efforts  to  noose  her  with  great  ferocity; 
but  at  last,  completely  muzzled  with  a  line  fastened  by 
a  running  knot  between  her  jaws  and  the  back  of  her 
head,  she  moved  oft'  to  the  brig  amid  the  clamor  of 
the  dogs.  We  have  her  now  chained  alongside,  but 
snarling  and  snapping  constantly,  evidently  suffering 
from  her  wound. 

"  Of  the  eight  dogs  who  took  part  in  this  passage  of 
arms,  only  one — 'Sneak,'  as  the  men  call  him,  'Young 


BEAR-IIABITS.  391 


Wliitey,'  as  he  figures  in  this  journal — lost  a  flower 
from  his  chaplet.  But  two  of  the  rest  escaped  with- 
out a  grip. 

"  Strange  to  say,  in  spite  of  the  powerful  flings  which 
they  were  subjected  to  in  the  fight,  not  a  dog  suffers 
seriously.  I  expected,  from  my  knowledge  of  the 
hugging  propensity  of  the  plantigrades,  that  the  ani- 
mal would  rear,  or  at  least  use  her  forearm;  but  she 
invariably  seized  the  dogs  with  her  teeth,  and,  after 
disposing  of  them  for  the  time,  abstained  from  follow- 
ing up  the  advantage.  The  Esquimaux  assert  that 
this  is  the  habit  of  the  hunted  bear.  One  of  our  Smith 
Sound  dogs,  'Jack,'  made  no  struggle  when  he  was 
seized,  but  v/as  flung,  with  all  his  muscles  relaxed,  I 
hardly  dare  to  say  how  far :  the  next  instant  he  rose 
and  renewed  the  attack.  The  Esquimaux  both  of 
Proven  and  of  this  country  say  that  the  dogs  soon 
learn  this  'Opossum-playing'  habit.  Jack  was  an  old 
bear-dog. 

"  The  bear  seems  to  be  more  ferocious  as  he  increases 
his  latitude,  or  more  probably  as  he  recedes  from  the 
hunting-fields. 

"At  Oominak,  last  winter,  (1852,)  an  Esquimaux 
and  his  son  were  nearly  killed  by  a  bear  that  had 
housed  himself  in  an  iceberg.  They  attacked  him 
with  the  lance,  but  he  turned  on  them  and  worsted 
them  badly  before  making  his  escape. 

"But  the  continued  pursuit  of  man  seems  to  have 
exerted  already  a  modifying  influence  upon  the  ursine 
character  in  South  Greenland ;  at  all  events,  the  bears 


392  bear's    liver. 


there  never  attack,  and  even  in  self-defence  seldom 
inflict  injury  upon  the  hunter.  Many  instances  have 
occurred  where  they  have  defended  themselves  and 
even  charged  after  being  wounded,  but  in  none  of  them 
was  hfe  lost.  I  have  myself  shot  as  many  as  a  dozen 
bears  near  at  hand,  and  never  but  once  received  a 
charge  in  return. 

"I  heard  another  adventure  from  the  Danes  as  oc- 
-'    curring  in  1834  :— 

"A  stout  Esquimaux,  an  assistant  to  the  cooper 
of  Upernavik, — not  a  Christian,  but  a  stout,  manly 
savage, — fired  at  a  she-bear,  and  the  animal  closed  on 
the  instant  of  receiving  the  ball.  The  man  flung  him- 
self on  the  ground,  putting  forward  his  arm  to  protect 
his  head,  but  lying  afterward  perfectly  motionless. 
The  beast  was  taken  in.  She  gave  the  arm  a  bite  or 
two,  but,  finding  her  enemy  did  not  move,  she  retired  a 
few  paces  and  sat  upon  her  haunches  to  watch.  But 
she  did  not  watch  as  carefully  as  she  should  have  done, 
for  the  hunter  adroitly  reloaded  his  rifle  and  killed  her 
with  the  second  shot. 

"October  8,  Sunday. — When  I  was  out  in  the  Ad- 
vance, Avith  Captain  De  Haven,  I  satisfied  myself  that 
it  was  a  vulgar  prejudice  to  regard  the  liver  of  the 
bear  as  poisonous.  I  ate  of  it  freely  myself,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  it  a  favorite  dish  with  the  mess. 
But  I  find  to  my  cost  that  it  may  sometimes  be  more 
savory  than  safe.  The  cub's  liver  was  my  supper  last 
night,  and  to-day  I  have  the  symptoms  of  poison  in  full 
measure — vertigo,  diarrhoea,  and  their  concomitants." 


DOUBTFUL     DIET.  393 


I  may  mention,  in  connection  with  the  fact  which  I 
have  given  from  my  journal,  that  I  repeated  the  ex- 
periment several  times  afterward,  and  sometimes,  but 
not  always,  with  the  same  result.  I  remember  once, 
near  the  Great  Glacier,  all  our  j)arty  sickened  after 
feeding  on  the  liver  of  a  bear  that  we  had  killed;  and 
a  few  weeks  afterward,  when  we  were  tempted  into  a 
similar  indulgence,  we  were  forced  to  undergo  the  same 
penance.  The  animal  in  both  cases  was  old  and  fat. 
The  dogs  ate  to  repletion,  without  injury. 

Another  article  of  diet,  less  inviting  at  first,  but 
which  I  found  more  innocuous,  was  the  rat.  We  had 
failed  to  exterminate  this  animal  by  our  varied  and 
perilous  efforts  of  the  year  before,  and  a  well-justified 
fear  forbade  our  renewing  the  crusade.  It  was  mar- 
vellous, in  a  region  apparently  so  unfavorable  to  repro- 
duction, what  a  perfect  warren  we  soon  had  on  board. 
Their  impudence  and  address  increased  with  their 
numbers.  It  became  impossible  to  stow  any  thing  be- 
low decks.  Furs,  woollens,  shoes,  specimens  of  natural 
history,  every  thing  we  disliked  to  lose,  however  little 
valuable  to  them,  was  gnawed  into  and  destroyed. 
They  harbored  among  the  men's  bedding  in  the  fore- 
castle, and  showed  such  boldness  in  fight  and  such 
dexterity  in  dodging  missiles  that  they  were  tolerated 
at  last  as  inevitable  nuisances.  Before  the  winter 
ended,  I  avenged  our  griefs  by  decimating  them  for  my 
private  table.  I  find  in  my  journal  of  the  10th  of 
October  an  anecdote  that  illustrates  their  boldness: — 

"We  have  moved  every  thing  movable  out  upon  the 


394  RATS,     RATS,     RATS. 


ice,  and,  besides  our  dividing  moss  wall  between  our 
sanctum  and  the  forecastle,  we  have  built  up  a  rude 
barrier  of  our  iron  sheathing  to  prevent  these  abomi- 
nable rats  from  gnawing  through.  It  is  all  in  vain. 
They  are  everywhere  already,  under  the  stove,  in  the 
steward's  lockers,  in  our  cushions,  about  our  beds.  If  I 
was  asked  what,  after  darkness  and  cold  and  scurvy, 
are  the  three  besetting  curses  of  our  Arctic  sojourn,  I 
should  say,  Eats,  Rats,  Rats.  A  mother-rat  bit  my 
finger  to  the  bone  last  Friday,  as  I  was  intruding  my 
hand  into  a  bear-skin  mitten  which  she  had  chosen  as 
a  homestead  for  her  little  family.  I  withdrew  it  of 
course  with  instinctive  courtesy;  but  among  them  they 
carried  off  the  mitten  before  I  could  suck  the  finger. 

"  Last  week,  I  sent  down  Rhina,  the  most  intelligent 
dog  of  our  whole  pack,  to  bivouac  in  their  citadel  for- 
ward :  I  thought  she  might  at  least  be  able  to  defend 
herself  against  them,  for  she  had  distinguished  herself 
in  the  bear-hunt.  She  slept  very  well  for  a  couple  of 
hours  on  a  bed  she  had  chosen  for  herself  on  the  top 
of  some  iron  spikes.  But  the  rats  could  not  or  would 
not  forego  the  horny  skin  about  her  paws;  and  they 
gnawed  her  feet  and  nails  so  ferociously  that  we  drew 
her  up  yelping  and  vanquished." 

Before  I  pass  from  these  intrepid  and  pertinacious 
visitors,  let  me  add  that  on  the  whole  I  am  personally 
much  their  debtor.  Through  the  long  winter  night, 
Hans  used  to  beguile  his  lonely  hours  of  watch  by 
shooting  them  with  the  bow  and  arrow.  The  repug- 
nance of  my  associates  to  share  with   me   the   table 


THE     ARCTIC      HARE.  395 


luxury  of  "such  small  deer"  gave  me  the  frequent 
advantage  of  a  fresh-meat  soup,  which  contributed  no 
doubt  to  my  comparative  immunity  from  scurvy.  I 
had  only  one  competitor  in  the  dispensation  of  this 
entremet,  or  rather  one  companion;  for  there  was  an 
abundance  for  both.  It  was  a  fox: — we  caught  and 
domesticated  him  late  in  the  winter;  but  the  scantiness 
of  our  resources,  and  of  course  his  own,  soon  instructed 
him  in  all  the  antipathies  of  a  terrier.  He  had  only 
one  fault  as  a  rat-catcher:  he  would  never  catch  a 
second  till  he  had  eaten  the  first. 

At  the  date  of  these  entries  thv^  Arctic  hares  had 
not  ceased  to  be  numerous  about  our  harbor.  They 
were  very  beautiful,  as  white  as  swans'  down,  with  a 
crescent  of  black  marking  the  ear-tips.  They  feed  on 
the  bark  and  catkins  of  the  willow,  and  affect  the 
stony  sides  of  the  worn-down  rocks,  where  they  find 
protection  from  the  wind  and  snow-drifts.  They  do  not 
burrow  like  our  hares  at  home,  but  squat  in  crevices  or 
under  large  stones.  Their  average  weight  is  about 
nine  pounds.  They  would  have  entered  largely  into 
our  diet-list  but  for  our  Esquimaux  dogs,  who  regarded 
them  with  relishing  aj)petite.  Parry  found  the  hare  at 
Melville  Island,  in  latitude  75° ;  but  we  have  traced  it 
from  Littleton  Island  as  fiir  north  as  79°  OS',  and  its 
range  proljably  extends  still  farther  toward  the  Pole. 
Its  structure  and  habits  enable  it  to  penetrate  the 
snow-crusts,  and  obtain  food  where  the  reindeer  and 
the  musk-ox  perish  in  consequence  of  the  glazed  cover- 
ing of  their  feeding-grounds. 


396 


THE      ICE-FOOT      CANOPY. 


"October  11,  Wednesday. — There  is  no  need  of  look- 
ing at  the  thermometer  and  comparing  registers,  to 
show  how  far  this  season  has  advanced  beyond  its 
fellow  of  last  year.  The  ice-foot  is  more  easily  read, 
and  quite  as  certain. 


THE      IC  E-FO  OT     CANOPY. 


"  The  under  part  of  it  is  covered  now  with  long  sta- 
lactitic  columns  of  ice,  unlike  the  ordinary  icicle  in 
shape,  for  they  have  the  characteristic  bulge  of  the 
carbonate-of-lime  stalactite.  They  look  like  the  fan- 
tastic columns  hanging  from  the  roof  of  a  frozen 
temple,  the  dark  recess  behind  them  giving   all   the 


SEARCH      FOR     ESQUIMAUX.     '  397 


effect  of  a  grotto.  There  is  one  that  brmgs  back  to 
me  saddened  memories  of  Elephanta  and  the  merry 
friends  that  bore  me  company  under  its  rock-chiselled 
portico.  The  fig-trees  and  the  palms,  and  the  gallant 
major's  curries  and  his  old  India  ale,  are  wanting  in 
the  picture.  Sometimes  again  it  is  a  canopy  fringed 
with  gems  in  the  moonlight.  Nothing  can  be  j^urer  or 
more  beautiful. 

"  The  ice  has  begun  to  fasten  on  our  brig :  I  have 
called  a  consultation  of  officers  to  determine  how  she 
may  be  best  secured. 

"October  13,  Friday. — The  Esquimaux  have  not 
been  near  us,  and  it  is  a  puzzle  of  some  interest  where 
they  have  retreated  to.  Wherever  they  are,  there 
must  be  our  hunting-grounds,  for  they  certainly  have 
not  changed  their  quarters  to  a  more  destitute  region. 
I  have  sent  Morton  and  Hans  to-day  to  track  them  out 
if  they  can.  They  carry  a  hand-sledge  with  them, 
Ohlsen's  last  manufacture,  ride  with  the  doti-sledge  as 

'  CD 

far  as  Anoatok,  and  leave  the  old  dogs  of  our  team 
there.  From  that  point  they  are  to  try  a  device  of  my 
own.  We  have  a  couple  of  dogs  that  we  got  from 
these  same  Esquimaux,  who  are  at  least  as  instinctive 
as  their  former  masters.  One  of  these  tliey  are  to  let 
run,  holding  the  other  by  a  long  leash.  I  feel  confident 
that  the  free  dog  will  find  the  camping-ground,  and  I 
think  it  probable  the  other  will  follow.  I  thought  of 
tying  the  two  together ;  Ijut  it  would  eml3arrass  their 
movements,  and  give  them  sometliing  to  occupy  their 
minds  besides  the  leading  object  of  their  mission. 


398  DOGS     AND     WOLVES. 


"  October  14,  Saturday. — Mr.  Wilson  and  Hickey  re- 
ported last  night  a  wolf  at  the  meat^house.  Now,  the 
meat-house  is  a  thing  of  too  much  worth  to  be  left  to 
casualty,  and  a  wolf  might  incidentally  add  some  fresh- 
ness of  flavor  to  its  contents.  So  I  went  out  in  all 
haste^  w^itli  the  Marston  rifle,  but  without  my  mittens 
and  with  only  a  single  cartridge.  The  metal  burnt  my 
hands,  as  metal  is  ajot  to  do  at  fifty  degrees  below 
the  point  of  freezing ;  but  I  got  a  somewhat  rapid 
shot.  I  hit one  of  our  dogs,  a  truant  from  Mor- 
ton's team ;  luckily  a  flesh-wound  only,  for  he  is  too 
good  a  beast  to  lose.  I  could  have  sworn  he  was  a 
wolf." 

There  is  so  much  of  identical  character  between  our 
Arctic  dogs  and  wolves,  that  I  am  inclined  to  agree 
with  Mr.  Broderip,  who  in  the  "Zoological  Eecrea- 
tions"  assigns  to  them  a  family  origin.  The  oblique 
position  of  the  wolf's  eye  is  not  uncommon  among 
the  dogs  of  my  team.  I  have  a  slut,  one  of  the  tamest 
and  most  afiectionate  of  the  whole  of  them,  who  has 
the  long  legs,  and  compact  body,  and  drooping  tail, 
and  wild,  scared  expression  of  the  eye,  which  some 
naturalists  have  supposed  to  characterize  the  wolf 
alone.  When  domesticated  early, — and  it  is  easy  to 
domesticate  him, — the  wolf  follows  and  loves  you  like 
a  dog.  That  they  are  fond  of  a  loose  foot  proves 
nothing :  many  of  our  pack  will  run  away  for  weeks 
into  the  wilderness  of  ice ;  yet  they  cannot  be  per- 
suaded when  they  come  back  to  inhabit  the  kennel  we 
have  built  for  them  only  a  hundred  yards  ofll     They 


THEIR     SIMILARITY.  399 


crouch  around  for  the  companionship  of  men.  Both 
animals  howl  in  unison  alike  :  the  bell  at  the  settle- 
ments of  South  Greenland  always  starts  them.  Their 
footprint  is  the  same,  at  least  in  Smith's  Sound.  Dr. 
Richardson's  remark  to  the  contrary  made  me  observe 
the  fact  that  our  northern  dogs  leave  the  same  "spread 
track"  of  the  toes  when  running,  though  not  perhaps 
as  well  marked  as  the  wolf's. 

The  old  proverb,  and  the  circumstance  of  the  wolf 
having  sometimes  carried  off  an  Esquimaux  dog,  has 
been  alluded  to  by  the  editors  of  the  "Diffusion  ol 
Knowledge  Library."  But  this  too  is  inconclusive,  for 
the  proverb  is  false.  It  is  not  quite  a  month  ago  since 
I  found  five  of  our  dogs  gluttonizing  on  the  carcasses 
of  their  dead  companions  who  had  been  thrown  out 
on  a  rubbish-heap;  and  I  have  seen  pups  only  two 
months  old  risk  an  indigestion  by  overfeeding  on  their 
twin  brethren  who  had  preceded  them  in  a  like  im- 
prudence. 

Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  the  supposed  difference  of 
strength.  The  Esquimaux  dog  of  Smith's  Sound  en- 
counters the  wolf  fearlessly  and  with  success.  The 
wolves  of  Northern  America  never  venture  near  the 
huts ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  when  the}'  have  been 
chasing  the  deer  or  the  moose,  the  dogs  have  come  up 
as  rivals  in  the  hunt,  beaten  them  off,  and  appropriated 
the  prey  to  themselves, 

"October  IG,  Monday. — I  have  been  wearied  and 
vexed   for   half  a   day   by   a  vain   chase   after   some 


400  BEAR     AND     FOX. 


bear-tracks.  There  was  a  fox  evidently  following 
them,  ((7.  lagojpus.y 

There  are  fables  about  the  relation  between  these 
two  animals  which  I  once  thought  my  observations 
had  confirmed.  They  are  very  often  found  together : 
the  bear  striding  on  ahead  with  his  prey;  the  fox 
behind  gathering  in  the  crumbs  as  they  fall;  and  I 
have  often  seen  the  parasite  licking  at  the  traces  of 
a  wounded  seal  which  his  champion  had  borne  off 
over  the  snow.  The  story  is  that  the  two  hunt  in 
couples.  I  douljt  this  now,  though  it  is  certain  that 
the  inferior  animal  rejoices  in  his  association  with  the 
superior,  at  least  for  the  profits,  if  not  the  symjDathy  it 
brings  to  him.  I  once  wounded  a  bear  when  I  was  out 
with  Morton  during  our  former  voyage,  and  followed 
him  for  twelve  miles  over  the  ice.  A  miserable  little 
fox  travelled  close  behind  his  j)atron,  and  licked  u]3  \ 

the  blood  wherever  he  lay  down.  The  bear  at  last 
made  the  water ;  and,  as  we  returned  from  our  fruitless 
chase,  we  saw  the  fox  running  at  full  speed  along  the 
edge  of  the  thin  ice,  as  if  to  rejoin  him.  It  is  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  he  cannot  swim :  he  does,  and  that 
boldly. 

''October  19,  Thursday. — Our  black  dog  Erebus  has 
come  back  to  the  brig.  Morton  has  perhaps  released 
him,  but  he  has  more  probably  broken  loose. 

"I  have  no  doubt  Morton  is  making  the  best  of  his 
way  after  the  Esquimaux.  These  trijDs  are  valuable  to 
us,  even  when  they  fail  of  their  immediate  object. 
They  keep  the  natives   in  wholesome  respect  for  us, 


WINTER     QUARTERS. 


401 


We  are  careful  to  impress  them  with  our  physical 
prowess,  and  avoid  showing  either  fatigue  or  cold  when 
we  are  travelling  together.  I  could  not  help  being 
amused  some  ten  days  ago  with  the  complacent  manner 
of  Myouk,  as  he  hooked  himself  to  me  for  support  after 
I  had  been  walking  for  thirty  miles  ahead  of  the  sledge. 
The  fellow  was  worth  four  of  me;  but  he  let  me  carry 
him  almost  as  far  as  the  land-ice. 


THE      BRIG      IN      HER      SECOND     WINTER. 


"  We  have  been  completing  our  arrangements  for 
raising  the  brig.  The  heavy  masses  of  ice  that  adhere 
to  her  in  the  winter  make  her  condition  dangerous  at 
seasons  of  low  tide.  Her  frame  could  not  sustain  the 
pressure  of  such  a  weight.  Our  object,  therefore,  has 
been  to  lift  her  mechanically  above  her  line  of  flotation, 
and  let  her  freeze  in  on  a  sort  of  ice-dock;  so  that  the 

Vol.  I.— 2G 


402  MORTOX'S      RETURN. 


ice  around  her  as  it  sinks  may  take  the  bottom  and 
hold  her  up  clear  of  the  danger.  We  have  detached 
four  of  the  massive  beams  that  were  intended  to  resist 
the  lateral  pressure  of  nips,  and  have  placed  them  as 
shores,  two  on  each  side  of  the  vessel,  opposite  the 
channels.  Brooks  has  rigged  a  crab  or  capstan  on  the 
floe,  and  has  passed  the  chain  cable  under  the  keel  at 
four  bearing-points.  As  these  are  hauled  in  by  the  crab 
and  the  vessel  rises,  the  shores  are  made  to  take  hold 
under  heavy  cleats  spiked  below  the  bulwarks,  and  in 
this  manner  to  sustain  her  weight. 

"We  made  our  first  trial  of  the  apparatus  to-day. 
The  chains  held  perfectly,  and  had  raised  the  brig 
nearly  three  feet,  when  away  went  one  of  our  chain- 
slings,  and  she  fell  back  of  course  to  her  more  familiar 
bearings.  We  will  repeat  the  experiment  to-morrow, 
using  six  chains,  two  at  each  line  of  stress. 

"October  21,  Saturday. — Hard  at  it  still,  slinging 
chains  and  planting  shores.  The  thermometer  is  too 
near  zero  for  work  like  this.  We  swaddle  our  feet  in 
old  cloth,  and  guard  our  hands  with  fur  mits;  but  the 
cold  iron  bites  through  them  all. 

"6.30  P.M. — Morton  and  Hans  are  in,  after  tracking 
the  Esquimaux  to  the  lower  settlement  of  Etah.  I 
cannot  give  their  report  to-night :  the  poor  fellows  are 
completely  knocked  up  by  the  hardships  of  their  march. 
Hans,  who  is  always  careless  of  powder  and  fire-arms, — 
a  trait  which  I  have  observed  among  both  the  Ame- 
rican and  the  Oriental  savages, — exploded  his  powder- 
flask  while  attempting  to   kindle    a   tinder-fire.     The 


THE      LIGHT      RECEDING. 


403 


explosion  has  risked  his  hand.  I  have  dressed  it,  ex- 
tracting several  pieces  of  foreign  matter  and  poulticing 
it  in  yeast  and  charcoal.  Morton  has  frostbitten  both 
his  heels;  I  hope  not  too  severely,  for  the  indurated 
skin  of  the  heel  makes  it  a  bad  region  for  suppuration. 
But  they  bring  us  two  hundred  and  seventy  pounds  of 
walrus-meat  and  a  couple  of  foxes.  This  supply,  with 
what  we  have  remaining  of  our  two  bears,  must  last  us 
till  the  return  of  daylight  allows  us  to  join  the  natives 
in  their  hunts.  - 

"  The  light  is  fast  leaving  us.  The  sun  has  ceased 
to  reach  the  vessel.  The  northeastern  headlands  or 
their  southern  faces  up  the  fiords  have  still  a  warm 
yellow  tint,  and  the  pinnacles  of  the  icebergs  far  out 
on  the  floes  are  lighted  up  at  noonday:  but  all  else  is 
dark  shadow." 


OUR      GREENLAND      SLEDGES. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

JOURNEY  OF  MORTON  AND  HANS  —  RECEPTION  —  THE  HUT  —  THE 
WALRUS — WALRUS-HUNT — THE  CONTEST — HABITS  OF  WALRUS- 
FEROCITY  OP  THE  WALRUS  —  THE  VICTORY  —  THE  JUBILEE  —  A 
SIPAK. 

|0ttntB2  at  Ucrtnn  u)i  Jans. 

Morton  reached  the  huts  beyond  Anoatok  upon  the 
fourth  day  after  leaving  the  brig. 

The  little  settlement  is  inside  the  northeastern 
islands  of  Hartstene  Bay,  about  five  miles  from  Gray's 
Fiord,  and  some  sixty-five  or  seventy  from  our  brig. 
The  slope  on  which  it  stands  fronts  the  southwest,  and 
is  protected  from  the  north  a,nd  northeast  by  a  rocky 
island  and  the  hills  of  the  mainland. 

There  were  four  huts ;  but  two  of  them  are  in  ruins. 
They  were  all  of  them  the  homes  of  families  only  four 
winters  ago.  Of  the  two  which  are  still  habitable, 
Myouk,  his  father,  mother,  brother,  and  sister  occupied 
one ;  and  Awahtok  and  Ootuniah,  with  their  wives  and 
three  young  ones,  the  other.  The  little  community 
had  lost  two  of  its  members  by  death  since  the  spring. 

They   received   Morton    and    his    companion    with 

404 


THEIR      RECEPTION. 


405 


much  kindness,  giving  them  water  to  drink,  rubbing 
their  feet,  drying  their  moccasins,  and  the  like.  The 
women,  who  did  this  with  something  of  the  good-wife's 
air  of  prerogative,  seemed  to  have  toned  down  much  of 


/  A' 


PORTRAIT      OF      OOTUNIAH. 


the  rudeness  which  characterized  the  bachelor  settle- 
ment at  Anoatok.  The  lamps  were  cheerful  and  smoke- 
less, and  the  huts  much  less  filthy.  Each  had  its  two 
lamp-fires  constantly  burning,  with  a  framework  of 
bone  hooks  and  walrus-line  above  them  for  drying  the 
wet  clothes  of  the  household.     Except  a  few  dog-skins, 


406 


MORTON   S      JOURNEY. 


which  are  used  as  a  support  to  the  small  of  the  back, 
the  dais  was  destitute  of  sleeping-accommodations 
altogether:  a  single  walrus-hide  was  spread  out  for 
Morton  and  Hans.  The  hut  had  the  usual  tossut,  at 
least  twelve  feet  long, — very  low,  straight,  and  level, 
until  it  reached  the  inner  part  of  the  chamber,  Avhen 
it  rose  abruptly  by  a  small  hole,  through  which  with 


ETAH,      AWAHTOK'S      HUT. 


some  squeezing  was  the  entrance  into  the  true  apart- 
ment. Over  this  entrance  was  the  rude  window,  with 
its  scraped  seal-intestine  instead  of  glass,  heavily  coated 
with  frost  of  course;  but  a  small  eye-hole  commanding 
the  bay  enabled  the  in-dwellers  to  peep  out  and  speak 
or  call  to  any  who  were  outside.  A  smoke-hole  passed 
through  the  roof. 

When  all  the  family,  with  Morton  and  Hans,  were 
gathered  together,  the  two  lamps  in  full  blaze  and  the 


awahtok's    hut.  407 


narrow  hole  of  entrance  covered  by  a  flat  stone,  the 
heat  became  insupportable.  Outside,  the  thermometer 
stood  at  30°  below  zero;  within,  90°  above:  a  differ- 
ence of  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees. 

The  vermin  were  not  as  troublesome  as  in  the 
Anoatok  dormitory,  the  natives  hanging  their  clothing 
over  the  lamp-frames,  and  lying  down  to  sleep  per- 
fectly naked,  with  the  exception  of  a  sort  of  T  bandage, 
as  surgeons  call  it,  of  seal-skin,  three  inches  wide,  worn 
by  the  women  as  a  badge  of  their  sex,  and  supported 
by  a  mere  strip  around  the  hips.  ■     - . 

After  sharing  the  supper  of  their  hosts, — that  is  to 
say,  after  disposing  of  six  frozen  auks  apiece, — the 
visitors  stretched  themselves  out  and  passed  the  night 
in  unbroken  perspiration  and  slumber.  It  was  evident 
from  the  meagreness  of  the  larder  that  the  hunters  of 
the  family  had  work  to  do ;  and  from  some  signs,  which 
did  not  escape  the  sagacity  of  Morton,  it  was  plain  that 
Myouk  and  his  father  had  determined  to  seek  their 
next  dinner  upon  the  floes.  They  were  going  upon  a 
walrus-hunt;  and  Morton,  true  to  the  mission  with 
which  I  had  charged  him,  invited  himself  and  Hans  to 
be  of  the  party. 

I  have  not  yet  described  one  of  these  exciting  inci- 
dents of  Esquimaux  life.  Morton  was  full  of  the  one 
he  witnessed ;  and  his  account  of  it  when  he  came  back 
was  so  graphic  that  I  should  be  glad  to  escape  from 
the  egotism  of  personal  narrative  by  giving  it  in  his 
own  words.  Let  me  first,  however,  endeavor  to  de- 
scribe the  animal. 


408 


MORTON   S     JOURNEY. 


His  portrait  on  a  neighboring  page  is  truer  to  nature 
than  any  I  have  seen  in  the  books :  the  specimens  in 
the  museums  of  collectors  are  imperfect,  on  account  of 
the  drying  of  the  skin  of  the  face  against  the  skull. 
The  head  of  the  walrus  has  not  the  characteristic  oval 
of  the  seal:  on  the  contrary,  the  frontal  bone  is  so 
covered  as  to  present  a  steep  descent  to  the  eyes  and 
a  square,  blocked-out  aspect  to  the  upper  face.  The 
muzzle  is  less  protruding  than  the  seal's,  and  the  cheeks 
and  lips  are  completely  masked  by  the  heavy  quill-like 


ESQUIMAUX       SLEDGE. 


bristles.  Add  to  this  the  tusks  as  a  garniture  to  the 
lower  face ;  and  you  have  for  the  walrus  a  grim,  fero- 
cious aspect  peculiarly  his  own.  I  have  seen  him  with 
tusks  nearly  thirty  inches  long ;  his  body  not  less  than 
eighteen  feet.  When  of  this  size  he  certainly  reminds 
you  of  the  elephant  more  than  any  other  living 
monster.  ^ 

The  resemblance  of  the  walrus  to  man  has  been 
greatly  overrated.  The  notion  occurs  in  our  systematic 
treatises,  accompanied  with  the  suggestion  that  this 
animal  may  have  represented  the  merman  and  mer- 


THE     WALRUS. 


409 


maid.  The  square,  blocked-out  head  which  I  have 
noticed,  effectually  destroys  the  resemblance  to  hu- 
manity when  distant,  and  the  colossal  size  does  the 
same  when  near.  Some  of  the  seals  deserve  the  dis- 
tinction much  more :  the  size  of  the  head,  the  regularity 
of  the  facial  oval,  the  droop 
of  the  shoulders,  even  the 
movements  of  this  animal, 
whether  singly  or  in  group, 
remind  you  strikingly  of 
man.  . 

The  party  which  Morton 
attended  upon  their  walrus- 
hunt  had  three  sledges.  One 
was  to  be  taken  to  a  cache 
in  the  neighborhood;  the 
other  two  dragged  at  a  quick 
run  toward  the  open  water, 
about  ten  miles  off  to  the 
southwest.      They   had   but 


nine     dogs     to     these     two 


sledges,  one  man  only  riding, 

the  others  running  by  turns. 

As  they  neared  the  new  ice, 

and  where  the  black  wastes 

of  mingled  cloud  and  water 

betokened  the  open  sea,  they 

would  from  time  to  time  remove  their  hoods  and  listen 

intently  for  the  animal's  voice. 

After  a  while  Myouk  became  convinced,  from  signs 


ESQUIMAUX      WHIP, 
WOOD      AND      BONE      PIECED. 


410  Morton's    journey. 


or  sounds,  or  both, — for  they  were  inappreciable  by 
Morton, — that  the  walrus  were  waiting  for  him  in  a 
small  space  of  recently-open  water  that  was  glazed  over 
with  a  few  days'  growth  of  ice;  and,  moving  gentlj' 
on,  they  soon  heard  the  characteristic  bellow  of  a  bull 
awuk.  The  walrus,  like  some  of  the  higher  order  of 
beings  to  which  he  has  been  compared,  is  fond  of  his 
own  music,  and  will  lie  for  hours  listening  to  himself. 
His  vocalization  is  something  between  the  mooing  of  a 


WATCHING      AT      THE      WALRUS-HOLE. 


cow  and  the  deepest  baying  of  a  mastiff:  very  round 
and  full,  with  its  barks  or  detached  notes  repeated 
rather  quickly  seven  to  nine  times  in  succession. 

The  part}^  now  formed  in  single  file,  following  in 
each  other's  steps;  and,  guided  by  an  admirable  know- 
ledge of  ice-topography,  wound  behind  hummocks  and 
ridges  in  a  serpentine  approach  toward  a  group  of 
pond-like  discoloration s,  recently-frozen  ice-sjDots,  but 
surrounded  by  firmer  and  older  ice. 

When  within  half  a  mile  of  these,  the  line  broke, 
and  each  man  crawled  toward  a  separate  pool;  Morton 


WALRUS-HUNT. 


411 


on  his  hands  and  knees  following  Myouk.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  walrus  were  in  sight.  They  were  five  in 
number,  rising  at  intervals  through  the  ice  in  a  body, 
and  breaking  it  up  with  an  explosive  puff  that  might 
have  been  heard  for  miles.  Two  large  grim-looking 
males  w^ere  conspicuous  as  the  leaders  of  the  group. 


Now  for  the  marvel  of  the  craft.  When  the  walrus 
is  above  water,  the  hunter  is  flat  and  motionless;  as  he 
begins  to  sink,  alert  and  ready  for  a  spring.  The  ani- 
mal's head  is  hardly  below  the  water-hne  before  every 
man  is  in  a  rapid  run;  and  again,  as  if  by  instinct, 
before  the  beast  returns,  all  are  motionless  behind  pro- 
tecting knolls  of  ice.     They  seem  to  know  beforehand 


412 


MORTONS     JOURNEY. 


not  only  the  time  he  will  be  absent,  but  the  very  spot 
at  which  he  will  reappear.  In  this  way,  hiding  and 
advancing  by  turns,  Myouk,  with  Morton  at  his  heels, 
has  reached  a  plate  of  thin  ice,  hardly  strong  enough 
to  bear  them,  at  the  very  brink  of  the  water-pool  the 
walrus  are  curvetting  in. 


WALRUS-HARPOON. 


HARPOON-HEAD, 


Myouk,  till  now  phlegmatic,  seems  to  waken  with 
excitement.  His  coil  of  walrus-hide,  a  well-trimmed 
line  of  many  fathoms'  length,  is  lying  at  his  side.  He 
fixes  one  end  of  it  in  an  iron  barb,  and  fastens  this 
loosely  by  a  socket  upon  a  shaft  of  unicorn's  horn :  the 
other  end  is  already  looped,  or,  as  sailors  would  say. 


THE     CONTEST. 


413 


"doubled  in  a  bight."  It  is  the  work  of  a  moment. 
He  has  grasped  the  harpoon:  the  water  is  in  mo- 
tion. Puffing  with  pentr-up  respiration,  the  walrus  is 
within  a  couple  of  fathoms,  close  before  him.  Myouk 
rises  slowly;  his  right  arm  thrown  back,  the  left  flat 
at  his  side.  The  walrus  looks  about  him,  shaking  the 
water  from  his  crest :  Myouk  throws  up  his  left  arm ; 


NOZZLE      OF      HARPOONHEAD. 


HARPOON-HEAD,      FREE. 


and  the  animal,  rising  breast-high,  fixes  one  look  before 
he  plunges.  It  has  cost  him  all  that  curiosity  can 
cost:  the  harpoon  is  buried  under  his  left  flipper. 

Though  the  awuk  is  down  in  a  moment,  Myouk  is 
running  at  desperate  speed  from  the  scene  of  his  vic- 
tory, paying  off  his  coil  freely,  but  clutching  the  end 
by  its  loop.  He  seizes  as  he  runs  a  small  stick  of 
bone,   rudely   pointed   with    iron,    and   by   a    sudden 


414  MORTON    S     JOURNEY. 


movement  drives  it  into  the  ice:  to  this  he  secures 
his  line,  pressing  it  down  close  to  the  ice-surface  with 
his  feet. 

Now  comes  the  struggle.  The  hole  is  dashed  in  mad 
commotion  with  the  struggles  of  the  wounded  beast; 
the  line  is  drawn  tight  at  one  moment,  the  next  re- 
laxed: the  hunter  has  not  left  his  station.  There  is  a 
crash  of  the  ice;  and  rearing  up  through  it  are  two 
walruses,  not  many  yards  from  where  he  stands.  One 
of  them,  the  male,  is  excited  and  seemingly  terrified: 
the  other,  the  female,  collected  and  vengeful.  Down 
they  go  again,  after  one  grim  survey  of  the  field;  and 
on  the  instant  Myouk  has  changed  his  position,  carry- 
ing his  coil  with  him  and  fixing  it  anew. 

He  has  hardly  fixed  it  before  the  pair  have  again 
risen,  breaking  up  an  area  of  ten  feet  diameter  about 
the  very  spot  he  left.  As  they  sink  once  more  he 
again  changes  his  place.  And  so  the  conflict  goes  on 
between  address  and  force,  till  the  victim,  half  ex- 
hausted, receives  a  second  wound,  and  is  played  like  a 
trout  by  the  angler's  reel. 

The  instinct  of  attack  which  characterizes  the  walrus 
is  interesting  to  the  naturalist,  as  it  is  characteristic 
also  of  the  land  animals,  the  pachyderms,  with  which 
he  is  classed.  When  wounded,  he  rises  high  out  of  the 
water,  plunges  heavily  against  the  ice,  and  strives  to 
raise  himself  with  his  fore-flippers  upon  its  surface. 
As  it  breaks  under  his  weight,  his  countenance  assumes 
a  still  more  vindictive  expression,  his  bark  changes  to 


HABITS     OF      WALRUS.  415 


a  roar,  and  the  foam  pours  out  from  his  jaws  till  it 
froths  his  beard. 

Even  when  not  excited,  he  manages  his  tusks 
bravely.  They  are  so  strong  that  he  uses  them  to 
grapple  the  rocks  with,  and  climbs  steeps  of  ice  and 
land  which  would  be  inaccessible  to  him  without  their 
aid.  He  ascends  in  this  way  rocky  islands  that  are 
sixty  and  a  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea; 
and  I  have  myself  seen  him  in  these  elevated  positions 
basking  with  his  young  in  the  cool  sunshine  of  August 
and  September. 

He  can  strike  a  fearful  blow;  but  prefers  charging 
with  his  tusks  in  a  soldierly  manner.  I  do  not  doubt 
the  old  stories  of  the  Spitzbergen  fisheries  and  Cherie 
Island,  where  the  walrus  put  to  flight  the  crowds  of 
European  boats.  Awuk  is  the  lion  of  the  Danish 
Esquimaux,  and  they  always  speak  of  him  with  the 
highest  respect. 

I  have  heard  of  oomiaks  being  detained  for  days  at 
a  time  at  the  crossings  of  straits  and  passages  which  he 
infested.  Governor  Flaischer  told  me  that,  in  1830,  a 
brown  walrus,  which,  according  to  the  Esquimaux,  is 
the  fiercest,  after  being  lanced  and  maimed  near  Uper- 
navik,  routed  his  numerous  assailants,  and  drove  them 
in  fear  to  seek  for  help  from  the  settlement.  His 
movements  were  so  violent  as  to  jerk  out  the  harpoons 
that  were  stuck  into  him.  The  governor  slew  him 
with  great  difficulty  after  several  rifle-shots  and  lance- 
wounds  from  his  whaleboat. 

On  another  occasion,  a  young  and  adventurous  Inuit 


416 


MORTON    S     JOURNEY. 


plunged  his  nalegeit  into  a  brown  walrus ;  but,  startled 
by  the  savage  demeanor  of  the  beast,  called  for  help 
before  using  the  lance.  The  older  men  in  vain  cau- 
tioned him  to  desist.  "It  is  a  brown  walrus,"  said 
they :  "AuveJc-KaioJc  f  "  Hold  back  !"     Finding  the  cau- 


LANCE-HEAD,    FROM     MARSHALL    BAY. 


LANCE-HEAD,    FROM    SUNNY    GORGE. 


tion  disregarded,  his  only  brother  rowed  forward  and 
plunged  the  second  harpoon.  Almost  in  an  instant  the 
animal  charged  upon  the  kayacker,  ripping  him  up,  as 
the  description  went,  after  the  fashion  of  his  sylvan 


ESQUIMAUX       LANCE-HEAD,      "AKBAH. 


brother,  the  wild  boar.  The  story  was  told  to  me  with 
much  animation;  how  the  brother  remaining  rescued 
the  corpse  of  the  brother  dead;  and  how,  as  they 
hauled  it  up  on  the  ice-floes,  the  ferocious  beast  plunged 


THE     VICTORY.  41' 


in  foaming  circles,  seeking  fresh  victims  in  that  part  of 
the  sea  which  was  discolored  by  his  blood. 

Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  ferocity  of  the  wal- 
rus, from  the  fact  that  the  battle  which  Morton  wit- 
nessed, not  without  sharing  some  of  its  danger,  lasted 
four  hours ;  during  which  the  animal  rushed  con- 
tinually at  the  Esquimaux  as  they  approached,  tearing 
off  great  tables  of  ice  with  his  tusks,  and  showing  no 
indications  of  fear  whatever.  He  received  upward 
of  seventy  lance-wounds, — Morton  counted  over  sixty ; 
and  even  then  he  remained  hooked  by  his  tusks  to 
the  margin  of  the  ice,  unable  or  unwilling  to  retire. 
His  female  fought  in  the  same  manner,  but  fled  on 
receiving  a  lance-wound. 

The  Esquimaux  seemed  to  be  fully  aware  of  the 
danger  of  venturing  too  near;  for  at  the  first  onset 
of  the  walrus  they  jumped  back  far  enough  to  be  clear 
of  the  broken  ice.  Morton  described  the  last  three 
hours  as  wearing,  on  both  sides,  the  aspect  of  an  un- 
broken and  seemingly  doubtful  combat. 

The  method  of  landing  the  beast  upon  the  ice,  too, 
showed  a  great  deal  of  clever  contrivance.  They  made 
two  pair  of  incisions  in  the  neck,  where  the  hide  is  very 
thick,  about  six  inches  apart  and  parallel  to  each  other, 
so  as  to  form  a  couple  of  bands.  A  line  of  cut  hide, 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  was  passed 
under  one  of  these  bands  and  carried  up  on  the  ice  to  a 
firm  stick  well  secured  in  the  floe,  where  it  went  through 
a  loop,  and  was  then  taken  back  to  the  animal,  made 
to  pass   under  the   second  band,   and    led   ofi"  to   the 

Vol.  I.— 27 


418  Morton's    journey. 


Esquimaux.  This  formed  a  sort  of  "  double  purchase." 
the  blubber  so  lubricating  the  cord  as  to  admit  of  a 
free  movement.  By  this  contrivance  the  beast,  weigh- 
ing some  seven  hundred  pounds,  was  hauled  up  and 
butchered  at  leisure. 

The  two  oledges  now  journeyed  homeward,  carrying 
the  more  valued  parts  of  their  prize.  The  intestines 
and  a  large  share  of  the  carcass  were  buried  up  in  the 
cavities  of  a  berg :  Lucullus  himself  could  not  have 
dreamed  of  a  grander  icehouse. 

As  they  doubled  the  little  island  which  stood  in 


SOUTHERN     KNIFE,     "aWAYU."  FROM     GRAVE,     BUSHNALL     ISLAND. 

front  of  their  settlement,  the  women  ran  down  the 
rocks  to  meet  them.  A  long  hail  carried  the  good 
news ;  and,  as  the  party  alighted  on  the  beach,  knives 
were  quickly  at  work,  the  allotment  of  the  meat  being 
determined  by  well-understood  hunter  laws.  The 
Esquimaux,  however  gluttonously  they  may  eat,  evi- 
dently bear  hunger  with  as  little  difficulty  as  excess. 
None  of  the  morning  party  had  Ibreakfasted ;  yet  it 
was  after  ten  o'clock  at  night  before  they  sat  down 
to  dinner.  "  Sat  do^vn  to  dinner !"  This  is  the  only 
expression  of  our  o^vn  gastrology  which  is  applicable 
to  an  Esquimaux  feast.     They  truly  sit  down,  man, 


JUBILEE A      SIPAK,  419 


woman,  and  child,  knife  in  hand,  squatting  cross-legged 
around  a  formidable  joint, — say  forty  pounds, — and, 
without  waiting  for  the  tardy  coction  of  the  lamp, 
falling  to  like  college  commoners  after  grace.  I  have 
seen  many  such  feeds.  Plans's  account,  however,  of 
the  glutton-festival  at  Etah  is  too  characteristic  to  be 
omitted. 

"Why,  Cappen  Ken,  sir,  even  the  children  ate  all 
night: — you  know  the  little  two-year-old  that  Awiu 
carried  in  her  hood — the  one  that  bit  you,  when  you 
tickled  it? — ^yes.  Well,  Cappen  Ken,  sir,  that  baby  cut 
for  herself,  with  a  knife  made  out  of  an  iron  hoop  and 
so  heavy  that  it  could  barely  lift  it,  and  cut  and  ate, 
and  ate  and  cut,  as  long  as  I  looked  at  it." 

"Well,  Hans,  try  now  and  think;  for  I  want  an  ac- 
curate answer:  how  much  as  to  weight  or  quantity 
would  you  say  that  child  ate  ?"  Hans  is  an  exact  and 
truthful  man:  he  pondered  a  little  and  said  that  he 
could  not  answer  my  question.  "But  I  know  this,  sir. 
that  it  ate  a  sij^aJc" — the  Esquimaux  name  for  the  lump 
which  is  cut  off  close  to  the  lips — "as  large  as  its  own 
head;  and  three  hours  afterward,  when  I  went  to  bed, 
it  was  cutting  off  another  lump  and  eating  still." — A 
sipak,  like  the  Dutch  governor's  foot,  is,  however,  a 
varying  unit  of  weight. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

AN    AURORA — WOOD-CUTTING  —  FUEL   ESTIMATE THE   STOVE-PIPES 

THE    ARCTIC    FIRMAMENT — ESQUIMAUX    ASTRONOMY HEATING 

APPARATUS METEORIC    SHOWER A    BEAR HASTY   RETREAT — 

THE    CABIN    BY    NIGHT SICKNESS     INCREASING CUTTING    INTO 

THE   BRIG THE    NIGHT-WATCH. 

"October  24,  Tuesday. — We  are  at  work  that  makes 
us  realize  how  short-handed  we  are.  The  brig  was 
lifted  for  the  third  time  to  day,  with  double  chains 
passed  under  her  at  low  tide,  both  astern  and  amid- 
ships. Her  bows  were  already  raised  three  feet  above 
the  water,  and  nothing  seemed  wanting  to  our  complete 
success,  when  at  the  critical  moment  one  of  the  after- 
shores  parted,  and  she  fell  over  about  five  streaks  to 
starboard.  The  slings  were  hove  to  by  the  crab,  and 
luckily  held  her  from  going  farther,  so  that  she  now 
stands  about  three  feet  above  her  flotation-line,  drawing 
four  feet  forward,  but  four  and  a  half  aft.  She  has 
righted  a  little  with  the  return  of  tide,  and  now  awaits 
the  freezing-in  of  her  winter  cradle.  She  is  well  out 
of  water;   and,  if  the  chains  only  hold,  we  shall  have 

420 


AN     AURORA. 


421 


the  spectacle  of  a  brig,  high  and  dry,  spending  an 
Arctic  winter  over  an  Arctic  ice-bed. 

"We  shall  be  engaged  now  at  the  hold  and  with  the 
housing  on  deck.  From  our  lodge-room  to  the  forward 
timbers  every  thing  is  clear  already.  We  have  moved 
the  carpenter's  bench  into  our  little  dormitorium: 
everywhere  else  it  is  too  cold  for  handling  tools. 

"  9  p.  M. — A  true  and  unbroken  auroral  arch :  the  first 
we  have  seen  in  Smith's  Sound.     It  was  colorless,  but 


THE       BRIG      CRADLED. 


extremely  bright.  There  was  no  pendant  from  the 
lower  curve  of  the  arc;  but  from  its  outer,  an  active 
wavy  movement,  dissipating  itself  into  barely-percejDti- 
ble  cirrhus,  was  broken  here  and  there  by  rays  nearl}^ 
perpendicular,  with  a  slight  inclination  to  the  east. 
The  atmosphere  was  beautifully  clear. 

"October  26,  Thursday. — The  thermometer  at  34° 
below  zero,  but  fortunately  no  wind  blowing.  We  go 
on  with  the  out^door  work.  The  gangway  of  ice  is 
finished,  and  we  have  passed  wooden  steam-tubes 
through  the  deck-house  to  carry  off  the  vapors  of  our 


422  WOOD-CUTTING. 


cooking-stove  and  the  lighter  impurities  of  the  crowded 
cabin. 

"  We  burn  but  seventy  pounds  of  fuel  a  day,  most  of 
it  in  the  galley;  the  fire  being  allowed  to  go  out  be- 
tween meals.  We  go  without  fire  altogether  for  four 
hours  of  the  night;  yet  such  is  the  excellence  of  our 
moss  walls,  and  the  air-proof  of  our  tossut,  that  the 
thermometer  in-doors  never  indicates  less  than  45° 
above  zero,  with  the  outside  air  at  30°  below.  When 
our  housing  is  arranged  and  the  main  hatch  secured 
with  a  proper  weather-tight  screen  of  canvas,  we  shall 
be  able,  I  hope,  to  meet  the  extreme  cold  of  February 
and  March  without  fear. 

"Darkness  is  the  worst  enemy  we  have  to  face;  but 
we  will  strive  against  the  scurvy  in  spite  of  him,  till 
the  light  days  of  sun  and  vegetation.  The  spring  hunt 
will  open  in  March,  though  it  will  avail  us  very  little 
till  late  in  April. 

"Wilson  and  Brooks  are  my  princij)al  subjects  of 
anxiety;  for,  although  Morton  and  Hans  are  on  their 
backs,  making  four  of  our  ten,  I  can  see  strength  of 
system  in  their  cheerfulness  of  heart.  The  best  pro- 
phylactic is  a  hopeful,  sanguine  temperament;  the  best 
cure,  moral  resistance,  that  spirit  of  combat  against 
everj^  trial  which  is  alone  true  bravery. 

"October  27,  Friday. — The  work  is  going  on:  we 
are  ripping  ofi"  the  extra  planking  of  our  deck  for  fuel 
during  the  winter.  The  cold  increases  fast,  verging 
now  upon  40°  below  zero;  and  in  spite  of  all  my  efforts 
we  will  have  to  burn  largely  into  the  brig.     I  prepared 


FUEL     ESTIMATE.  423 


for  this  two  months  ago,  and  satisfied  myself,  after  a 
consultation  with  the  carpenter,  that  we  may  cut  away 
some  seven  or  eight  tons  of  fuel  without  absolutely 
destroying  her  sea-worthiness.  Ohlsen's  report  marked 
out  the  order  in  which  her  timbers  should  be  appro- 
priated to  uses  of  necessity : — 1,  The  monkey-rail ;  2, 
the  bulwarks ;  3,  the  upper  ceiling  of  the  deck ;  4,  eight 
extra  cross-beams ;  5,  the  flooring  and  remaining  wood- 
work of  the  forecastle ;  6,  the  square  girders  of  the 
forepeak;  7,  the  main  topsail-yard  and  topmast;  8,  the 
outside  trebling  or  oak  sheathing. 

"We  had  then  but  thirty  buckets  of  coal  remaining, 
and  had  already  burnt  up  the  bulkheads.  Since  then 
we  have  made  some  additional  inroads  on  our  stock ; 
but,  unless  there  is  an  error  in  the  estimate,  we  can  go 
on  at  the  rate  of  seventy  pounds  a  day.  Close  house- 
keeping this ;  but  we  cannot  do  better.  W^  must 
remodel  our  heating-arrangements.  The  scurvy  exacts 
a  comfortable  temperature  and  a  drying  one.  Our 
mean  thus  far  has  been  47°, — decidedly  too  low;  and 
by  the  clogging  of  our  worn-out  pipe  it  is  now  re- 
duced to  42°. 

"The  ice-belt,  sorry  chronicler  of  winter  progress, 
has  begun  to  widen  with  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
sludgy  water. 

"October  31,  Tuesday. — We  have  had  a  scene  on 
board.  We  play  many  parts  on  this  Arctic  stage  of 
ours,  and  can  hardly  be  expected  to  be  at  home  in  all 
of  them. 

"  To-day  was  appropriated  to  the  reformation  of  the 


424  THE      STOYE-PIPES. 


stoves,  and  there  was  demand,  of  course,  for  all  our 
ingenuity  both  as  tinkers  and  chimney-sweeps.  Of  my 
company  of  nine,  Hans  had  the  good  luck  to  be  out  on 
the  hunt,  and  Brooks,  Morton,  Wilson,  and  Goodfellow 
were  scurvy-ridden  in  their  bunks.  The  other  four 
and  the  commanding  officer  made  up  the  detail  of 
duty.  First,  we  were  to  give  the  smoke-tubes  of  the 
stove  a  thorough  cleansing,  the  first  they  have  had 
for  now  seventeen  months;  next,  to  reduce  our  effete 
snow-melter  to  its  elements  of  imperfect  pipes  and 
pans;  and,  last,  to  combine  the  practicable  remains 
of  the  two  into  one  efficient  system  for  warming  and 
meltino". 


^O" 


''Of  these,  the  first  has  been  executed  most  gal- 
lantly. 'Glory  enough  for  one  day!'  The  work  with 
the  scrapers  on  the  heated  pipes — for  the  accumula- 
tion inside  of  them  was  as  hard  as  the  iron  itself  till 
we  melted  it  down — was  decidedly  unpleasant  to  our 
gentle  senses;  and  we  Avere  glad  when  it  had  advanced 
far  enough  to  authorize  a  resort  to  the  good  old- 
fashioned  country  custom  of  firing.  But  we  had  not 
calculated  the  quantity  of  the  gases,  combustible  and 
incombustible,  which  this  process  was  to  evolve,  with 
duly  scientific  reference  to  the  size  of  their  outlet.  In 
a  word,  they  were  smothering  us,  and,  in  a  fit  of  despe- 
ration, we  threw  open  our  apartment  to  the  atmosphere 
outside.  This  made  short  work  of  the  smoky  flocculi ; 
the  dormitory  decked  itself  on  the  instant  with  a  frosty 
forest  of  feathers,  and  it  now  rejoices  in  a  drajDcry  as 
gray  as  a  cygnet's  breast. 


THE     ARCTIC      FIRMAMENT.  425 


"It  was  cold  work  reorganizing  the  stove  for  the 
nonce;  but  we  have  got  it  going  again,  as  red  as  a 
cherry,  and  mj  well-worn  dog-skin  suit  is  drying  before 
it.  The  blackened  water  is  just  beginning  to  drip, 
drip,  drop,  from  the  walls  and  ceiling,  and  the  bed- 
clothes and  the  table  on  which  I  write." 

My  narrative  has  reached  a  period  at  which  every 
thing  like  progress  was  suspended.  The  increasing 
cold  and  brightening  stars,  the  labors  and  anxieties 
and  sickness  that  pressed  upon  us, — these  almost  en- 
gross the  pages  of  my  journal.  Now  and  then  I  find 
some  marvel  of  Petersen's  about  the  fox's  dexterity  as 
a  hunter;  and  Hans  tells  me  of  domestic  life  in  South 
Greenland,  or  of  a  seal-hunt  and  a  wrecked  ka^^ack ;  or 
perhaps  McGary  repeats  his  thrice-told  tale  of  humor ; 
but  the  night  has  closed  down  upon  us,  and  we  are 
hibernating  through  it. 

Yet  some  of  these  were  topics  of  interest.  The 
intense  beaut}^  of  the  Arctic  firmament  can  hardly  be 
imagined.  It  looked  close  above  our  heads,  with  its 
stars  magnified  in  glory  and  the  very  planets  twinkling 
so  much  as  to  baffle  the  observations  of  our  astronomer. 
I  am  afraid  to  speak  of  some  of  these  night-scenes.  I 
have  trodden  the  deck  and  the  floes,  when  the  life  of 
earth  seemed  suspended,  its  movements,  its  sounds,  its 
coloring,  its  companionships;  and  as  I  looked  on  the 
radiant  hemisphere,  circling  above  me  as  if  rendering 
worship  to  the  unseen  Centre  of  light,  I  have  ejacu- 
lated in  humility  of  spirit,  "Lord,  what  is  man  that 


426  ESQUIMAUX     ASTRONOMY. 


thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?"  And  then  I  have  thought 
of  the  kindly  world  we  had  left,  with  its  revolving  sun- 
shine and  shadow,  and  the  other  stars  that  gladden  it 
in  their  changes,  and  the  hearts  that  warmed  to  us 
there;  till  I  lost  myself  in  memories  of  those  who  are 
not; — and  they  bore  me  back  to  the  stars  again. 

The  Esquimaux,  like  other  nomads,  are  careful 
observers  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  An  illustration  of 
the  confidence  with  which  they  avail  themselves  of 
this  knowledge  occurred  while  Petersen's  party  were 
at  Tessieusak.  I  copy  it  from  my  journal  of  Novem- 
ber 6. 

"A  number  of  Esquimaux  sought  sleeping-quarters 
in  the  hut,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  earlier  visit- 
ors. The  night  was  clear;  and  Petersen,  anxious  to 
hasten  their  departure,  pointed  to  the  horizon,  saying 
it  would  soon  be  daylight.  ^No,'  said  the  savage ;  'when 
that  star  there  gets  round  to  that  point,'  indicating  the 
quarter  of  the  heavens, '  and  is  no  higher  than  this  star,' 
naming  it,  'will  be  the  time  to  harness  up  my  dogs.' 
Petersen  was  astounded;  but  he  went  out  the  next 
mornino;  and  verified  the  sidereal  fact. 

"  I  have  been  shooting  a  hare  to-day  uj)  the  ravine 
pointed  out  by  Ootuniah.  It  has  been  quite  a  pleasant 
incident.  I  can  hardly  say  how  valuable  the  advice 
of  our  Esquimaux  friends  has  been  to  us  upon  our 
hunts.  This  desert  homestead  of  theirs  is  as  thoroughly 
travelled  over  as  a  sheepwalk.  Every  movement  of 
the  ice  or  wind  or  season  is  noted;  and  they  predict 
its  influe>ice  upon  the  course  of  the  birds  of  passage 


HEATING     APPARATUS.  427 


with  the  same  sagacity  that  has  taught  them  the  habits 
of  the  resident  animals. 

"They  foretold  to  me  the  exact  range  of  the  water 
off  Cape  Alexander  during  September,  October,  No- 
vember and  December,  and  anticipated  the  excessive 
fall  of  snow  Avhicli  has  taken  place  this  winter,  by 
reference  to  this  mysterious  water. 

"In  the  darkest  weather  of  October,  when  every 
thing  around  is  apparently  congealed  and  solid,  they 
discover  water  by  means  as  inscrutable  as  the  divining- 
rod.  I  Avas  once  journeying  to  Anoatok,  and  completely 
enveloped  in  darkness  among  the  rolled-ice  off  Godsend 
Island.  My  dogs  were  suffering  for  water.  September 
was  half  gone,  and  the  water-streams  both  on  shore 
and  on  the  bergs  had  been  solid  for  nearly  a  fortnight. 
Myouk,  my  companion,  began  climbing  the  dune-like 
summits  of  the  ice-hills,  tapping  with  his  ice-pole  and 
occasionally  applying  his  ear  to  parts  of  the  surface. 
He  did  so  to  three  hills  without  any  result,  but  at  the 
fourth  he  called  out,  '  Water !'  I  examined  the  spot  by 
hand  and  tongue,  for  it  was  too  dark  to  see ;  but  I  could 
detect  no  liquid.  Lying  down  and  listening,  I  first 
perceived  the  metallic  tinkle  of  a  rivulet.  A  few 
minutes'  digging  brought  us  down  to  a  scanty  infil- 
tration of  drinkable  water.  * 

"November  8,  Wednesday. — Still  tinkering  at  our 
stove  and  ice-melter;  at  last  successful.  Old  iron  pipes, 
and  tin  kettles,  and  all  the  refuse  kitchen-ware  of  the 
brig  figure  now  in  picturesque  association  and  rejoice 
in  the  title  of  our  heating-apparatus.     It   is    a  great 


428  METEORIC      SHOWER. 


result.  We  have  burnt  from  6  A.  m.  to  10  p.  m.  but 
seventy-five  pounds,  and  will  finish  the  twenty-four 
hours  wdth  fifteen  pounds  more.  It  has  been  a  mild 
day,  the  thermometer  keeping  some  tenths  above  13° 
below  zero;  but  then  we  have  maintained  a  tempera- 
ture inside  of  55°  above.  With  our  old  contrivances  we 
could  never  get  higher  than  47°,  and  that  without  any 
certainty,  though  it  cost  us  a  hundred  and  fifty-four 
pounds  a  day.  A  vast  increase  of  comfort,  and  still 
greater  saving  of  fuel.  This  last  is  a  most  important 
consideration.  Not  a  stick  of  wood  comes  below  with- 
out my  eyes  following  it  through  the  scales  to  the 
wood-stack.     I  weigh  it  to  the  very  ounce. 

"The  tide-register,  with  its  new  wheel-and-axle  ar- 
rangements, has  given  us  out-door  work  for  the  day. 
Inside,  after  rigging  the  stove,  we  have  been  busy 
chopping  wood.  The  ice  is  already  three  feet  thick 
at  our  tide-hole. 

"November  15,  Wednesday. — The  last  forty-eight 
hours  should  have  given  us  the  annual  meteoric  shower. 
We  w^ere  fully  j)repared  to  observe  it;  but  it  w^ould  not 
come  off.  It  would  have  been  a  godsend  variety.  In 
eight  hours  that  I  helped  to  watch,  from  nine  of  last 
night  until  five  this  morning,  there  were  only  fifty-one 
shooting  stars.  I  have  seen  as  many  between  the  same 
hours  in  December  and  February  of  last  winter. 

"  Our  traps  have  been  empty  for  ten  days  past :  but 
for  the  pittance  of  excitement  which  the  visit  to  them 
gives,  we  might  as  well  be  without  them. 

"The  men  are  getting  nervous  and  depressed.     Mc- 


A    bear! — A    bear!  429 


Gary  paced  the  deck  all  last  Sunday  in  a  fit  of  home- 
sickness, without  eating  a  meal.  I  do  my  best  to  cheer 
them;  but  it  is  hard  work  to  hide  one's  own  trials  for 
the  sake  of  others  who  have  not  as  many.  I  am  glad 
of  my  professional  drill  and  its  companion  influence 
over  the  sick  and  toil-worn.  I  could  not  get  along  at 
all  unless  I  combined  the  offices  of  physician  and  com- 
mander.    You  cannot  punish  sick  men. 

"November  20,  Monday. — I  was  out  to-day  looking 
over  the  empty  traps  with  Hans,  and  when  about  two 
miles  off  the  brig — luckily  not  more — I  heard  what 
I  thought  was  the  bellow  of  a  walrus  on  the  floe-ice. 
'  Hark  there,  Hans  !'  The  words  were  scarcely  uttered 
before  we  had  a  second  roar,  altogether  unmistakable. 
No  walrus  at  all :  a  bear,  a  bear !  We  had  jumped  to 
the  ice-foot  already.  The  day  was  just  thirty  minutes 
past  the  hour  of  noon;  but,  practised  as  we  all  are 
to  see  through  the  darkness,  it  was  impossible  to  make 
out  an  object  two  hundred  yards  ofl".  What  to  do  ? — 
we  had  no  arms. 

"  We  were  both  of  us  afraid  to  run,  for  we  knew  that 
the  sight  of  a  runner  would  be  the  signal  for  a  chase ; 
and,  besides,  it  went  to  our  hearts  to  lose  such  a  provi- 
dential accession  to  our  means  of  life.  A  second  roar, 
well  pitched  and  abundant  in  volume,  assured  us  that 
the  game  was  coming  nearer,  and  that  he  was  large 
and  of  no  doubt  corresponding  flavor.  'Kun  for  the 
brig,  Hans,' — he  is  a  noble  runner, — 'and  I  will  play 
decoy.'  Off  went  Hans  like  a  deer.  Another  roar; 
but  he  was  already  out  of  sight. 


430  HASTY     RETREAT. 


"  I  may  confess  it  to  these  well-worn  pages :  there 
was  something  not  altogether  pleasant  in  the  silent 
communings  of  the  next  few  minutes ;  but  they  wxre 
silent  ones. 

"I  had  no  stimulus  to  loquacity,  and  the  bear  had 
ceased  to  be  communicative.  The  floe  was  about 
three-quarters  of  a  tide ;  some  ten  feet  it  may  be,  lower 
than  the  ice-foot  on  which  I  lay.  The  bear  was  of 
course  below  my  horizon.  I  began  after  a  while  to 
think  over  the  reality  of  what  I  had  heard,  and  to 
doubt  whether  it  might  not  be  after  all  a  creature  of 
the  brain.  It  was  very  cold  on  that  ice-foot.  I  re- 
solved to  crawl  to  the  edge  of  it  and  peer  under  my 
hands  into  the  dark  shadow  of  the  hummock-ridges. 

"  I  did  so.  One  look  :  nothing.  A  second  :  no  bear 
after  all.  A  third  :  what  is  that  long  rounded  shade  ? 
Stained  ice  ?  Yes  :  stained  ice.  The  stained  ice  gave 
a  gross  menagerie  roar,  and  charged  on  the  instant  for 
my  position.  I  had  not  even  a  knife,  and  did  not  wait 
to  think  what  would  have  been  appropriate  if  I  had 
had  one.  I  ran, — ran  as  I  never  expect  these  scurvy- 
stiffened  knees  to  run  again, — throwing  off  first  one 
mitten  and  then  its  fellow  to  avoid  pursuit.  I  gained 
the  brig,  and  the  bear  my  mittens.  I  got  back  one 
of  them  an  hour  afterward,  but  the  other  was  carried 
off  as  a  trophy  in  spite  of  all  the  rifles  we  could  bring 
to  the  rescue. '^^''^  ' 

''November  24,  Friday. — The  weather  still  mild. 
I  attempted  to  work  to-day  at  charting.  I  placed  a 
large  board  on  our  stove,  and  pasted  my  j^aper  to  it. 


THE      CABIN     BY     NIGHT.  131 


My  lamp  reposed  on  the  lid  of  the  coffee-kettle,  my 
instruments  in  the  slush-boiler,  my  feet  in  the  ash- 
pan;  and  thus  I  drew  the  first  coast-line  of  Grinnell 
Land.  The  stove,  by  close  watching  and  niggard 
feeding,  has  burnt  only  sixty-five  pounds  in  the  last 
twenty-four  hours.  Of  course,  working  by  night  I 
work  without  fire.  In  the  daytime  our  little  company 
take  every  man  his  share  of  duty  as  he  is  able.  Poor 
Wilson,  just  able  to  stump  about  after  his  late  attack 
of  scurvy,  helps  to  wash  the  dishes.  Morton  and 
Brooks  sew  at  sledge-clothing,  while  Riley,  McGary, 
and  Ohlsen,  our  only  really  able-bodied  men,  cut  the 
ice  and  firewood. 

"  December  1,  Friday. — I  am  writing  at  midnight. 
I  have  the  watch  from  eight  to  two.  It  is  da3^  in 
the  moonlight  on  deck,  the  thermometer  getting  up 
again  to  36°  below  zero.  As  I  come  down  to  the 
cabin — for  so  we  still  call  this  little  moss-lined  igloe  of 
ours — every  one  is  asleep,  snoring,  gritting  his  teeth, 
or  talking  in  his  dreams.  This  is  pathognomonic ; 
it  tells  of  Arctic  winter  and  its  companion  scurvy. 
Tom  Hickey,  our  good-humored,  blundering  cabin-boy, 
decorated  since  poor  Schubert's  death  with  the  dig- 
nities of  cook,  is  in  that  little  dirty  cot  on  the  star- 
board side;  the  rest  are  bedded  in  rows,  Mr.  Brooks 
and  myself  chock  aft.  Our  bunks  are  close  against  the 
frozen  moss  wall,  where  we  can  take  in  the  entire 
family  at  a  glance.  The  ajDartment  measures  twenty 
feet  by  eighteen ;  its  height  six  feet  four  inches  at  one 
place,  but  diversified  elsewhere  by  beams  crossing  at 


4-32  SICKNESS     INCREASING. 


different  distances  from  the  floor.  The  avenue  by 
which  it  is  approached  is  barely  to  be  seen  in  the 
moss  wall  forward : — twenty  feet  of  air-tight  space 
make  misty  distance,  for  the  puff  of  outside-tempera- 
ture  that  came  in  with  me  has  filled  our  atmosphere 
with  vesicles  of  vapor.  The  avenue — Ben-Djerback  is 
our  poetic  name  for  it — closes  on  the  inside  with  a 
door  well  patched  with  flannel,  from  which,  stooping 
upon  all-fours,  you  back  down  a  descent  of  four  feet  in 
twelve  through  a  tunnel  three  feet  high  and  two  feet 
six  inches  broad.  It  would  have  been  a  tight  squeeze 
for  a  man  like  Mr.  Brooks  when  he  was  better  fed  and 
fatter.  Arrived  at  the  bottom,  3^ou  straighten  your- 
self, and  a  second  door  admits  you  into  the  dark  and 
sorrowing  hold,  empty  of  stores  and  stripped  to  its 
naked  ceiling  for  firewood.  From  this  we  grope  our 
way  to  the  main  hatch,  and  mount  by  a  rude  stairway 
of  boxes  into  the  open  air. 

"December  2,  Saturday. — Had  to  put  Mr.  McGary 
and  Riley  under  active  treatment  for  scurv}^  Gums 
retracted,  ankles  swollen,  and  bad  lumbago.  Mr.  Wil- 
son's case,  a  still  worse  one,  has  been  brought  under. 
Morton's  is  a  saddening  one :  I  cannot  afford  to  lose 
him.  He  is  not  only  one  of  my  most  intelligent 
men,  but  he  is  daring,  cool,  and  everyway  trustworthy. 
His  tendon  Achilles  has  been  completely  perforated, 
and  the  surface  of  the  heel-bone  exposed.  An  opera- 
tion in  cold,  darkness,  and  privation,  would  probably 
bring  on  locked-jaw.  Brooks  grows  discouraged :  the 
poor  fellow  has  scurvy  in  his  stump,   and  his  leg  is 


CUTTING     INTO     THE     BRIG.  433 


drawn  up  by  the  contraction  of  the  flexors  at  the  knee- 
joint.  This  is  the  third  case  on  board, — the  fourth  if 
T  inckide  my  own, — of  contracted  tendons. 

"  December  3,  Sunday. — I  have  now  on  hand  twenty- 
four  hundred  pounds  of  chopped  wood,  a  store  collected 
with  great  difficulty;  and  yet  how  inadequate  a  pnv 
vision  for  the  sickness  and  accident  we  must  look  for 
through  the  rest  of  the  dark  days !  It  requires  the 
most  vigorous  effort  of  what  we  call  a  healthy  man  to 
tear  from  the  oak  ribs  of  our  stout  little  vessel  a  single 
day's  firewood.  We  have  but  three  left  Avho  can 
manage  even  this ;  and  we  cannot  spare  more  than 
one  for  the  daily  duty.  Two  thousand  pounds  will 
barely  carry  us  to  the  end  of  January,  and  the  two 
severest  months  of  the  Arctic  year,  February  and 
March,  will  still  be  ahead  of  us. 

"  To  carry  us  over  these,  our  days  of  greatest  antici- 
pated trial,  we  have  the  outside  oak  sheathing, — or 
trebling,  as  the  carpenters  call  it, — a  sort  of  extra  skin 
to  protect  the  brig  against  the  shocks  of  the  ice. 
Although  nearly  three  inches  thick,  it  is  only  spiked 
to  her  sides,  and  carpenter  Ohlsen  is  sure  that  its 
removal  will  not  interfere  with  her  sea-worthiness. 
Cut  the  trebling  only  to  the  water-line,  and  it  will 
give  me  at  least  two  and  a  half  tons ;  and  with  this — 
God  willing — I  may  get  through  this  awful  winter,  and 
save  the  hrig  besides  ! 

"December  4,  Monday. — That  stove  is  smoking  so 
that  three  of  our  party  are  down  with  acute  inflamma- 
tion of  the  eyes.     I  fear  I  must  increase  the  diametei 

Vol.  I.— 28 


434  THE      NIGHT-TV  ATCH. 


of  our  smoke-pipeS;  for  tlie  pitch-pine  which  we  burn, 
to  save  up  our  oak  for  the  greater  cold,  is  redundantly 
charged  with  turpentine.  Yet  we  do  not  want  an  in- 
creased draught  to  consume  our  seventy  pounds ;  the 
fiat  '  No  more  wood'  comes  soon  enough. 

"  Then  for  the  night-watch.  I  have  generally  some- 
thing on  hand  to  occupy  me,  and  can  volunteer  for 
the  hours  before  my  regular  term.  Every  thing  is 
closed  tight ;  I  muffle  myself  in  furs,  and  write ;  or,  if 
the  cold  denies  me  that  pleasure,  I  read,  or  at  least 
think.  Thank  heaven,  even  an  Arctic  temperature 
leaves  the  mind  unchilled.  But  in  truth,  though  our 
hourly  observations  in  the  air  range  between  — 46°  and 
— 30°,  we  seldom  register  less  than  -f-36°  below. 

"  December  5,  Tuesday. — McGary  is  no  better,  but 
happily  has  no  notion  how  bad  he  is.  I  have  to  give 
him  a  grating  of  our  treasured  potatoes.  He  and 
Brooks  will  doubtless  finish  the  two  I  have  got  out, 
and  then  there  will  be  left  twelve.  They  are  now 
three  years  old,  poor  old  frozen  memorials  of  the  dear 
land  they  grew  in.  They  are  worth  more  than  their 
weight  in  gold." 


CHAPTER  XXXIl. 

ESQUIMAUX    SLEDGES BONSALL'S  RETURN — RESULTS   OF    THE   HUNT 

RETURN    OF    WITHDRAWING    PARTY THEIR    RECEPTION — -THE 

ESQUIMAUX    ESCORT CONFERENCE CONCILIATION ON   FIRE 

CASUALTY CHRISTMAS OLE    BEN A    JOURNEY   AHEAD SET- 
TING    OUT A    DREARY     NIGHT  —  STRIKING    A    LIGHT END    OF 

1854. 

I  WAS  asleep  in  the  forenoon  of  the  7th,  after  the 
fatigue  of  an  extra  night-watch,  when  I  was  called  to 
the  deck  by  the  rej)ort  of  "  Esquimaux  sledges."  They 
came  on  rapidly,  five  sledges,  with  teams  of  six  dogs 
each,  most  of  the  drivers  strangers  to  us ;  and  in  a 
few  minutes  were  at  the  brig.  Their  errand  was  of 
charity :  they  were  bringing  back  to  us  Bonsall  and 
Petersen,  two  of  the  party  that  left  us  on  the  28th  of 
August. 

The  party  had  many  adventures  and  much  suffering 
to  tell  of  They  had  verified  by  painful  and  perilous 
experience  all  I  had  anticipated  for  them.  But  the 
most  stirring  of  their  announcements  was  the  condition 
they  had  left  their  associates  in,  two  hundred  miles  off, 
divided  in  their  counsels,  their  energies  broken,  and 

435 


436  EONS  all's    return. 


their  provisions  nearly  gone.  I  reserve  for  another 
page  the  history  of  their  wanderings.  My  first  thought 
was  of  the  means  of  rescuing  and  relieving  them. 

I  resolved  to  despatch  the  Esquimaux  escort  at  once 
with  such  supplies  as  our  miserably-imperfect  stores 
allowed,  they  giving  their  pledge  to  carry  them  with 
all  speed,  and,  what  I  felt  to  be  much  less  certain, 
with  all  honesty.  But  neither  of  the  gentlemen  who 
had  come  with  them  felt  himself  in  condition  to  repeat 
the  journey.  Mr.  Bonsall  was  evidently  broken  down, 
and  Petersen,  never  too  reliable  in  emergency,  was  for 
postponing  the  time  of  setting  out.  Of  our  own  party — 
those  who  had  remained  with  the  brig — McGary,  Hans, 
and  myself  were  the  only  ones  able  to  move,  and  of 
these  McGary  was  now  fairly  on  the  sick  list.  We 
could  not  be  absent  for  a  single  day  without  jeoparding 
the  lives  of  the  rest. 

"  December  8,  Friday. — I  am  much  afraid  these  pro- 
visions will  never  reach  the  wanderers.  We  were 
busy  every  hour  since  Bonsall  arrived  getting  them 
ready.  We  cleaned  and  boiled  and  packed  a  hundred 
pounds  of  pork,  and  sewed  up  smaller  packages  of 
meat-biscuit,  bread-dust,  and  tea;  and  despatched  the 
whole,  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  by  the 
returning  convoy.  But  I  have  no  faith  in  an  Esqui- 
maux under  temptation,  and  I  almost  regret  that  I 
did  not  accompany  them  myself.  It  might  have  been 
wiser.  But  I  will  set  Hans  on  the  track  in  the  morn- 
ing ;  and,  if  I  do  not  hear  within  four  days  that  the 
stores  are  fairly  on  their  way,  cofite  qui  coute,  I  will  be 


RESULTS     OF      THE      HUNT.  437 


off  to  the  lower  bay  and  ho^d  the  whole  tribe  as  host- 
ages for  the  absent  party. 

"  Brooks  is  wasting  with  night-sweats ;  and  my  iron 
man,  McGary,  has  been  suffering  for  two  days  with 
anomalous  cramps  from  exposure. 

"  These  Esquimaux  have  left  us  some  walrus-beef; 
and  poor  little  Myouk,  who  is  unabated  in  his  affec- 
tion for  me,  made  me  a  special  present  of  half  a  liver. 
These  go  of  course  to  the  hospital.  God  knows  they 
are  needed  there ! 

"December  9,  Saturday. — The  superabundant  life 
of  Northumberland  Island  has  impressed  Petersen  as 
much  as  it  did  me.  I  cannot  think  of  it  without 
recurring  to  the  fortunes  of  Franklin's  party.  Our 
own  sickness  I  attribute  to  our  civilized  diet ;  had  we 
plenty  of  frozen  walrus  I  would  laugh  at  the  scurvy. 
And  it  was  only  because  I  was  looking  to  other  objects — 
summer  researches,  and  explorations  in  the  fall  with 
the  single  view  to  escape — that  I  failed  to  secure  an 
abundance  of  fresh  food.  Even  in  August  I  could 
have  gathered  a  winter's  supply  of  birds  and  cochlearia. 

"  From  May  to  August  we  lived  on  seal,  twenty-five 
before  the  middle  of  July,  all  brought  in  by  one  man : 
a  more  assiduous  and  better-organized  hunt  would 
have  swelled  the  number  without  a  limit.  A  few  boat- 
parties  in  June  would  have  stocked  us  with  eider-eggs 
for  winter  use,  three  thousand  to  the  trip;  and  the 
snowdrifts  would  have  kej)t  them  fresh  for  the  break- 
fast-table. I  loaded  my  boat  with  ducks  in  three 
hours,  as  late  as  the  middle  of  July  and  not  more  than 


438       RETURN     OF     WITHDRAWING     PARTY. 


thirty-five  miles  from  our  anchorage.  And  even  now, 
here  are  these  Esquimaux,  sleek  and  oily  with  their 
walrus-blubber,  only  seventy  miles  off.  It  is  not  a 
region  for  starvation,  nor  ought  it  to  be  for  scurvy. 


/w  / 


CLIFFS,       NORTHUMBERLAND      ISLAND. 


"December  12,  Tuesday. — Brooks  awoke  me  at 
three  this  morning  with  the  cry  of  'Esquimaux  again!' 
I  dressed  hastily,  and,  groping  my  way  over  the  pile  of 
boxes  that  leads  up  from  the  hold  into  the  darkness 
above,  made  out  a  group  of  human  figures,  masked  by 
the  hooded  jumpers  of  the  natives.     They  stopped  at 


THEIR     RECEPTION.  439 


the  gangway,  and,  as  I  was  about  to  challenge,  one  of 
them  sprang  forward  and  grasped  my  hand.  It  was 
Doctor  Hayes.  A  few  words,  dictated  by  suffering, 
certainly  not  by  any  anxiety  as  to  his  reception,  and 
at  his  bidding  the  whole  party  came  upon  deck.  Poor 
felloAvs!  I  could  only  grasp  their  hands  and  give  them 
a  brother's  welcome. 

"The  thermometer  was  at  minus  50°;  they  were 
covered  with  rime  and  snow,  and  were  fainting  with 
hunger.  It  was  necessary  to  use  caution  in  taking 
them  below;  for,  after  an  exposure  of  such  fearful 
intensity  and  duration  as  they  had  gone  through,  the 
warmth  of  the  cabin  would  have  prostrated  them  com- 
pletely. They  had  journeyed  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles ;  and  their  last  run  from  the  bay  near  Etah,  some 
seventy  miles  in  a  right  line,  was  through  the  hum- 
mocks at  this  appalling  temperature. 

"One  by  one  they  all  came  in  and  were  housed. 
Poor  fellows!  as  they  threw  open  their  Esquimaux 
garments  by  the  stove,  how  they  relished  the  scanty 
luxuries  which  we  had  to  offer  them!  Tlie  coffee  and 
the  meat-biscuit  soup,  and  the  molasses  and  the  wheat 
bread,  even  the  salt  pork  which  our  scurvy  forbade  the 
rest  of  us  to  touch, —  how  they  relished  it  all!  For 
more  than  two  months  they  had  lived  on  frozen  seal 
and  walrus-meat. 

"They  are  almost  all  of  them  in  danger  of  collapse, 
but  I  have  no  apprehension  of  life  unless  from  tetanus. 
Stepheiiison  is  prostrate  with  pericarditis.  I  resigned 
my  own  bunk  to  Dr.  Hayes,  who  is  much  prostrated : 


440  THE     ESQUIMAUX     ESCORT. 


he  will  probably  lose  two  of  his  toes,  perhaps  a  third. 
The  rest  have  no  sjoecial  injury. 

"I  cannot  crowd  the  details  of  their  journey  into  my 
diary.  I  have  noted  some  of  them  from  Dr.  Hayes's 
words ;  but  he  has  promised  me  a  written  report,  and  I 
wait  for  it.  It  was  providential  that  they  did  not  stop 
for  Petersen's  return  or  rely  on  the  engagements  which 
his  Esquimaux  attendants  had  made  to  them  as  well 
as  to  us.  The  sledges  that  carried  our  relief  of  provi- 
sions passed  through  the  Etah  settlement  empty,  on 
some  furtive  project,  we  know  not  what. 

"December  13,  Wednesday. — The  Esquimaux  who 
accompanied  the  returning  party  are  nearly  all  of  them 
well-known  friends.  They  were  engaged  from  different 
settlements,  but,  as  they  neared  the  brig,  volunteers 
added  themselves  to  the  escort  till  they  numbered  six 
drivers  and  as  many  as  forty-two  dogs.  Whatever 
may  have  been  their  motive,  their  conduct  to  our  poor 
friends  was  certainly  full  of  humanity.  They  drove 
at  flying  speed;  every  hut  gave  its  welcome  as  they 
halted;  the  women  were  ready  without  invitation  to 
dry  and  chafe  .their  worn-out  guests. 

"I  found,  however,  that  there  were  other  objects 
connected  with  their  visit  to"  the  brig.  Suffering  and 
a  sense  of  necessity  had  involved  some  of  our  foot- 
worn absentees  in  a  breach  of  hospitality.  While 
resting  at  Kalutunah's  hut,  they  had  found  opportunity 
of  appropriating  to  their  own  use  certain  articles  of 
clothing,  fox-skins  and  the  like,  under  circumstances 
which  admitted  of  justification  only  by  the  law  of  the 


CONFERENCE.  441 


more  sagacious  and  the  stronger.  It  was  apparent 
that  our  savage  friends  had  their  plaint  to  make,  or,  it 
might  be,  to  avenge. 

"My  first  attention,  after  ministering  to  the  imme- 
diate wants  of  all,  was  turned  to  the  office  of  conciliat- 
ing our  Esquimaux  benefactors.  Though  they  wore 
their  habitual  faces  of  smiling  satisfaction,  I  could  read 
them  too  well  to  be  deceived.  Policy  as  well  as  moral 
duty  have  made  me  anxious  always  to  deserve  their 
respect;  but  I  had  seen  enough  of  mankind  in  its 
varied  relations  not  to  know  that  respect  is  little  else 
than  a  tribute  to  superiority  either  real  or  supposed, — 
and  that  among  the  rude  at  least,  one  of  its  elements 
is  fear. 

"1  therefore  called  them  together  in  stern  and 
cheerless  conference  on  the  deck,  as  if  to  inquire  into 
the  truth  of  transactions  that  I  had  heard  of,  leaving 
it  doubtful  from  my  manner  which  was  the  party  I 
proposed  to  implicate.  Then,  by  the  intervention  of 
Petersen,  I  called  on  Kalutunah  for  his  story,  and  went 
through  a  full  train  of  questionings  on  both  sides.  It 
was  not  difficult  to  satisfy  them  that  it  was  my 
purpose  to  do  justice  all  round.  The  subject  of  con- 
troversy was  set  out  fully,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
convince  me  that  an  appeal  to  kind  feeling  might  have 
been  substituted  with  all  effect  for  the  resort  to  artifice 
or  force.  I  therefore,  to  the  immense  satisfaction  of 
our  stranger  guests,  assured  them  of  my  approval,  and 
pulled  their  hair  all  around. 

"They  were  introduced   into  the  oriental  recess  of 


442 


CONCILIATION. 


our  dormitory, — hitherto  an  unsolved  mystery.  There, 
seated  on  a  red  blanket,  with  four  pork-fat  lamps, 
throwing  an  illumination  over  old  worsted  damask 
curtains,  hunting-knives,  rifles,  beer-barrels,  galley-stove 
and  chronometers,  I  dealt  out  to  each  man  five  needles, 


a  file,  and  a  stick  of  wood. 


To  Kalutunah  and  Shunghu 


S  H  U  N  G  H  U. 


I  gave  knives  and  other  extras;  and  in  conclusion 
spread  out  our  one  remaining  buffalo  close  to  the  stove, 
built  a  roaring  fire,  cooked  a  hearty  supper,  and  by 
noonday  they  were  sleeping  away  in  a  state  of  thorough 
content,  i  explained  to  them  further  that  my  people 
did   not   steal;    that  the    fox-jumpers    and   boots   and 


COOKING-ROOM     ON     FIRE.  443 


sledges  were  only  taken  to  save  their  lives ;  and  I  there- 
upon returned  them. 

"The  party  took  a  sound  sleep,  and  a  second  or 
rather  a  continuous  feed,  and  left  again  on  their  return 
through  the  hummocks  with  apparent  confidence  and 
good-humor.  Of  course  they  prigged  a  few  knives  and 
forks; — but  that  refers  itself  to  a  national  trait. 

"December  23,  Saturday. — This  uncalculated  acces- 
sion of  numbers  makes  our  little  room  too  crowded 
to  be  wholesome :  I  have  to  guard  its  ventilation 
with  all  the  severity  that  would  befit  a  surgical 
ward  of  our  Blockley  Hospital.  We  are  using  the 
Esquimaux  lamp  as  an  accessory  to  our  stove :  it 
helps  out  the  cooking  and  water-making,  without 
encroaching  upon  our  rigorously-meted  allowance  of 
wood.  But  the  odor  of  pork-fat,  our  only  oil,  we 
have  found  to  be  injurious;  and  our  lamps  are  there- 
fore placed  outside  the  tossut,  in  a  small  room  bulk- 
headed  off  for  their  use. 

"  This  new  arrangement  gave  rise  yesterday  to  a 
nearly  fatal  disaster.  A  watch  had  been  stationed  in 
charge  of  the  lamp,  with  the  usual  order  of  'No  un- 
covered lights.'  He  deserted  his  post.  Soon  afterward, 
Hans  found  the  cooking-room  on  fire.  It  was  a  hor- 
rible crisis ;  for  no  less  than  eight  of  our  party  were 
absolutely  nailed  to  their  beds,  and  there  was  nothing 
but  a  bulkhead  between  them  and  the  fire.  I  gave 
short  but  instant  orders,  stationing  a  line  between  the 
tide-hole  and  the  main  hatch,  detailing  two  men  to 
work  with  me,  and  ordering  all  the  rest  who  could 


446  OLE    ben's    hospitality. 


tion  of  plum-puddiDg,  mutton,  and  custard  to  his 
unbelieving  brothers. 

"  McGarj,  of  course,  told  us  his  story :  we  hear  it 
every  day,  and  laugh  at  it  almost  as  heartily  as  he 
does  himself.  Caesar  Johnson  is  the  guest  of  '  Ole 
Ben,'  colored  gentlemen  both,  who  do  occasional  white- 
washing. The  worthies  have  dined  stanchly  on  the 
dish  of  beans,  browned  and  relished  by  its  surmount- 
ing cube  of  pork.  A  hospitable  pause,  and,  with  a 
complacent  wave  of  the  hand,  Ole  Ben  addresses  the 
lady  hostess : — '  Ole  woman  !  bring  on  de  resarve.' 
'  Ha' n't  got  no  resarve.'  '  Well,  den,' — with  a  placid 
smile, — '  bring  on  de  beans  !' 

"  So  much  for  the  Merrie  Christmas.  What  portion 
of  its  mirth  was  genuine  with  the  rest  I  cannot  tell, 
for  we  are  practised  actors  some  of  us;  but  there  was 
no  heart  in  my  share  of  it.  My  thoughts  were  with 
those  far  off,  who  are  thinking,  I  know,  of  me.  I 
could  bear  my  own  troubles  as  I  do  my  eider-down 
coverlet;  for  I  can  see  myself  as  I  am,  and  feel  sus- 
tained by  the  knowledge  that  I  have  fought  my  battle 
well.  But  there  is  no  one  to  tell  of  this  at  the  home- 
table.  Pertinacity,  unwise  daring,  calamity, — any  of 
these  may  come  up  unbidden,  as  my  name  circles 
round,  to  explain  why  I  am  still  away." 

For  some  days  before  Christmas  I  had  been  medi- 
tating a  sledge-journey  to  our  Esquimaux  neighbors. 
The  condition  of  the  little  party  under  my  charge  left 
me  no  alternative,  uncomfortable  and  hazardous  as  I 
knew  that  it  must  be.     I  failed  in  the  first  effort ;   but 


A     JOURNEY     AHEAD.  447 


there  were  incidents  connected  with  it  which  may 
deserve  a  place  in  this  volume.  I  recur  to  my 
journal  for  a  succinct  record  of  my  motives  in  set- 
ting out : — 

"December  26,  Tuesday. — The  moon  is  nearly  above 
the  cliffs;  the  thermometer — 57°  to — 45°,  the  mean 
of  the  past  four  days.  In  the  midst  of  this  cheering 
conjunction,  I  have  ahead  of  me  a  journey  of  a  hundred 
miles;  to  say  nothing  of  the  return.  Worse  than  this, 
I  have  no  landmarks  to  guide  me,  and  must  be  my  own 
pioneer.  '  ■ 

"But  there  is  a  duty  in  the  case.  McGary  and 
Brooks  are  sinking,  and  that  rapidly.  Walrus-beef 
alone  can  sustain  them,  and  it  is  to  be  got  from  the 
natives  and  nowhere  else.  It  is  a  merciful  change  of 
conditions  that  I  am  the  strongest  now  of  the  whole 
party,  as  last  winter  I  w\as  the  weakest.  The  duty  of 
collecting  food  is  on  me.  I  shall  go  first  to  the  lower 
Bay  Esquimaux,  and  thence,  if  the  hunt  has  failed 
there,  to  Cape  Robertson. 

"My  misgivings  are  mostly  on  account  of •  the  dogs; 
for  it  is  a  rugged,  hummocked  drive  of  twenty-two 
hours,  even  with  strong  teams  and  Esquimaux  drivers. 
We  have  been  feeding  them  on  salt  meat,  for  we  have 
had  nothing  else  to  give  them;  and  they  are  out  of 
health ;  and  there  are  hardly  enough  of  them  at  best 
to  carry  our  lightest  load.  If  one  of  these  tetanoids 
should  attack  them  on  the  road,  it  may  be  game  up  for 
all  of  u&. 

"But  it  is  to  be  tried  at  last:  Petersen  will  go  with 


448  SETTINGOUT. 


me,  and  we  will  club  our  wits.  I  do  not  fear  the  cold : 
we  are  impregnable  in  our  furs  while  under  exercise, 
though  if  we  should  be  forced  to  walk,  and  give  out,  it 
might  be  a  different  matter.  We  shall  have,  I  imagine, 
a  temperature  not  much  above  — 54°,  and  I  do  not  see 
how  we  are  to  carry  heating-apparatus.  We  have  load 
enough  without  it.  Our  only  diet  will  be  a  stock  of 
meat-biscuit,  to  which  I  shall  add  for  myself — Peter- 
sen's taste  is  less  educated — a  few  rats,  choj)ped  up 
and  frozen  into  the  tallow-balls. 

"December  28,  Thursday. — I  have  fed  the  dogs  the 
last  two  days  on  their  dead  brethren.  Spite  of  all 
proverbs,  dog  loill  eat  dog,  if  properly  cooked.  I  have 
been  saving  up  some  who  died  of  fits,  intending  to  use 
their  skins,  and  these  have  come  in  very  opportunely, 
I  boil  them  into  a  sort  of  bloody  soup,  and  deal  them 
out  twice  a  day  in  chunks  and  solid  jelly;  for  of  course 
they  are  frozen  like  quartz  rock.  These  salt  meats  are 
absolutely  poisonous  to  the  Northern  Esquimaux  dog. 
We  have  now  lost  fifty  odd,  and  one  died  yesterday  in 
the  very  act  of  eating  his  reformed  diet. 

"The  moon  to-morrow  will  be  for  twelve  hours  above 
tlie  horizon,  and  so  nearly  circumpolar  afterward  as  to 
justify  me  in  the  attempt  to  reach  the  Esquimaux 
hunting-ground  about  Cape  Alexander.  Every  thing  is 
ready ;  and,  God  willing,  I  start  to-morrow,  and  pass  the 
four-hours'  dog-halt  in  the  untenanted  hut  of  Anoatok. 
I^hen  we  have,  as  it  may  be,  a  fifteen,  eighteen,  or 
twenty  hours'  march,  run  and  drive,  before  we  reach  a 
shelter  among  the  heathen  of  the  Bay. 


A      DREARY     NIGHT.  440 


"January  2,  Tuesday. — The  dogs  began  to  show 
signs  of  that  accursed  tetanoid  spasm  of  theirs  before 
we  passed  Ten-mile  Ravine.  When  w^e  reached  Basalt 
Camp,  six  out  of  eight  were  nearly  useless.  Our  thermo- 
meter was  at  — 44°,  and  the  wind  was  blowing  sharply 
out  of  the  gorge  from  the  glacier.  Petersen  wanted  to 
return,  but  was  persuaded  by  me  to  walk  on  to  the  huts 
at  Anoatok,  in  the  hope  that  a  halt  might  restore  the 
animals.     We  reached  them  after  a  thirty  miles'  march. 

"  The  sinuosities  of  this  bay  gave  fearful  travel :  the 
broken  ice  clung  to  the  rocks;  and  we  could  only 
advance  by  climbing  up  the  ice-foot  and  down  again 
upon  the  floe,  as  one  or  the  other  gave  us  the  chance 
of  passing.  It  was  eleven  hours  and  over  before  wx' 
were  at  the  huts,  having  made  by  sledge  and  foot-tramp 
forty-five  miles.  We  took  to  the  best  hut,  filled  in  its 
broken  front  with  snow,  housed  our  dogs,  and  crawled 
in  among  them. 

"It  was  too  cold  to  sleep.  Next  morning  we  broke 
down  our  door  and  tried  the  dogs  again:  they  could 
hardly  stand.  A  gale  now  set  in  from  the  southwest, 
obscuring  the  moon  and  blowing  very  hard.  We  were 
forced  back  into  the  hut ;  but,  after  corking  up  all  open- 
ings with  snow  and  making  a  fire  with  our  Esquimaux 
lamp,  we  got  up  the  temperature  to  30°  below  zero, 
cooked  coflee,  and  fed  the  dogs  freely.  This  done, 
both  Petersen  and  myself,  our  clothing  frozen  stiff,  fell 
asleep  through  sheer  exhaustion;  the  wind  outside 
blowing  death  to  all  that  might  be  exposed  to  its  in- 
fluence. 

Vol.  I.— 29 


450  STRIKING     A     LIGHT. 


"I  do  not  know  how  long  we  slept,  but  my  admi- 
rable clothing  ke-pt  me  up.  I  was  cold,  but  far  from 
dangerously  so ;  and  was  in  a  fair  way  of  sleeping  out 
a  refreshing  night,  when  Petersen  waked  me  with — 
^Captain  Kane,  the  lamp's  out.'  I  heard  him  with  a 
thrill  of  horror.  The  gale  had  increased ;  the  cold  was 
23iercing,  the  darkness  intense ;  our  tinder  had  become 
moist,  and  was  now  like  an  icicle.  All  our  fire-arms 
were  stacked  outside,  for  no  Arctic  man  will  trust 
powder  in  a  condensing  temperature.  We  did  not 
dare  to  break  down  our  doorway,  for  that  would  admit 
the  gale ;  our  only  hope  of  heat  was  in  re-lighting  our 
lamp.  Petersen,  acting  by  my  directions,  made  several 
attempts  to  obtain  fire  from  a  pocket-pistol;  but  his 
only  tinder  was  moss,  and  our  heavily  stone-roofed  hut 
or  cave  would  not  bear  the  concussion  of  a  rammed 
wad. 

"  By  good  luck  I  found  a  bit  of  tolerably  dry  paper 
in  my  jumper ;  and,  becoming  apprehensive  that  Peter- 
sen would  waste  our  few  percussion-caps  with  his  in- 
effectual snappings,  I  determined  to  take  the  pistol 
myself.  It  was  so  intensely  dark  that  I  had  to  grope 
for  it,  and  in  doing  so  touched  his  hand.  At  that 
instant  the  pistol  became  distinctly  visible.  A  pale 
bluish  light,  slightly  tremulous  but  not  broken,  covered 
the  metallic  parts  of  it,  the  barrel,  lock,  and  trigger. 
The  stock  too,  was  clearly  discernible  as  if  by  the 
reflected  light,  and,  to  the  amazement  of  both  of  us, 
the  thumb  and  two  fingers  with  which  Petersen  was 
holding  it,  the  creases,  wrinkles,  and  circuit  of  the 


END     OF     1854.  451 


nails  clearly  defined  uj)on  the  skin.  The  phospho- 
rescence was  not  unlike  the  ineffectual  fire  of  the  glow- 
worm. As  I  took  the  pistol  my  hand  became  illu- 
minated also,  and  so  did  the  powder-rubbed  paper 
when  I  raised  it  against  the  muzzle. 

"  The  paper  did  not  ignite  at  the  first  trial,  but,  the 
light  from  it  continuing,  I  was  able  to  charge  the  pistol 
without  difiiculty,  rolled  up  my  paper  into  a  cone, 
filled  it  with  moss  sprinkled  over  with  powder,  and 
held  it  in  my  hand  while  I  fired.  This  time  I  suc- 
ceeded in  producing  flame,  and  we  saw  no  more  of  the 
phosphorescence.  I  do  not  stop  for  theory  or  argu- 
ment to  explain  this  opportune  phenomenon ;  our  fur 
clothing  and  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  may  refer  it 
plausibly  enough  to  our  electrical  condition. 

"As  soon  as  the  wind  had  partially  subsided,  we 
broke  out  of  the  hut  and  tried  the  dogs  toward  Refuge 
Inlet ;  but  the  poor  broken-down  animals  could  not  sur- 
mount the  hummocks;  and,  as  a  forced  necessity  to 
save  tiieir  lives  and  ours,  we  resolved  to  push  for  the 
brig  on  foot,  driving  them  before  us.  We  made  the 
walk  of  forty-four  miles  in  sixteen  hours,  almost  scud- 
ding before  the  gale,  and  arrived  safely  at  7  P.  M.  of 
Sunday ;  the  temperature  — 40°." 

With  this  fruitless  adventure  closed  the  year  1854. 


r-A 


FLOE 


Aug.  'Vtit.^^^^^^Jy    -^-^ 


^ March  Will. 

'  ^^^^^=vl^='  I   Break  up 


iARROW'S      STRAITS 


THE 


SOLID 


FLOE 


C.  STAFFOED 


Ma.  OHLSEN  ^'\ 

^^Ai  t/uTie  10(/(.  No  ice  leads. 


■^..-_vL-'*'i^ 


I:.-'  'EsdlrislAUX  POINT 

\     "-    TVatcr  sctn 

'caPe  eatherton 

BOAT 


SMITH'S      STRA  ITS. 
Sketch  showing  the  Condition  of  the  Ice  of  Barrow's  and  Smith's  Straits  for  the  years  1854-6. 


B££  PAGE  314  •Sic. 


NOTES. 


Note  1,  p.  21. 

Springs,  properly  speaking,  as  outlets  of  subterranean  drainage,  are  almost 
unknown  in  North  Greenland.  At  Godhavn,  Disco,  at  the  line  of  junction  of 
the  greenstones  and  the  basis-granites,  there  is  a  permanent  spring,  with  a 
■winter  temperature  of  33-5°  Fahr. ;  but  the  so-called  springs  of  the  Danish 
settlements,  as  far  north  as  73°,  are  derived  from  a  surface-drainage  which  is 
suspended  during  the  colder  months  of  the  year. 


Note  2,  p.  23. 

The  shark-oil  trade  is  of  recent  growtli  in  North  Greenland.  It  has  lately 
been  extended  as  far  north  as  Proven.  At  Neorkanek,  the  seat  of  greatest 
yield,  about  three  hundred  fish  are  taken  annually.  The  oil  is  expressed  from 
the  liver  of  the  Arctic  shark,  (^S.  borealis,)  the  Hvowcalder  of  the  Icelanders: 
it  is  extremely  pure,  resisting  cold,  and  well  adapted  to  lubrication.  It  brings 
a  higher  price  in  the  Copenhagen  market  than  the  best  seal-oils. 


Note  3,  p.  25. 

There  are  no  Moravian  missions  in  North  Greenland,  and  but  three  of  their 
settlements  in  the  south.  Named  in  the  order  of  their  date  of  colonization, 
they  are  New  Hernhut,  Lichtenfels,  and  Frederickstahl.  With  these  excep- 
tions, the  entire  coast  is  Lutheran.  The  Lutheran  missions,  although  distinct 
in  organization  from  the  Royal  Greenland  Company,  are  nevertheless  under  the 
direct  patronage  of  government,  and  administered  by  a  board  appointed  by  the 
crown.  The  Moravians  have  no  special  facilities,  and  are  dependent  for  their 
supplies  upon  private  negotiations  and  the  courtesy  of  the  Danish  trading- 
vessels. 

Note  4,  p.  29. 

There  are  four  sizes  of  reindeer-skins,  of  distinct  qualities  and  marked  values 
among  the  Esquimaux : — 1.  Bennesoak:  the  largest  males,  generally  without 
antlers.     2.  Nersutok :  males  of  lesser  size,  retaining  their  antlers  during  the 

453 


454 


NOTES. 


winter.  3.  Koluak :  females  still  smaller,  but  not  materially  so.  4.  Nohkak : 
the  yearlings  or  younger  animals.  These  last  are  prized  for  children's  clothing. 
It  is  the  Bennesoak  which  is  so  useful  as  an  Arctic  sleeping-bag  in  the  sledge- 
journeys.  • 

Note  5,  p.  32. 

Within  comparatively  recent  periods  the  Esquimaux  had  summer  settlements 
around  Wilcox  Point  and  the  Melville  Glacier ;  but  in  1826  the  small-pox  so 
reduced  them  that  they  were  concentrated  about  Upemavik.  Except  occasional 
parties  for  the  chase  of  the  white  bear  or  the  collection  of  eider-down,  there  are 
no  natives  north  of  Yotlik.  Cape  Shackleton  and  Horse's  Head  are,  however, 
visited  annually  for  eggs  and  down.  By  the  tortuous  route  of  the  Colonial 
Itinerary,  the  latter  is  rated  at  twenty-eight  Danish,  or  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  statute,  miles  from  Upernavik. 


Note  6,  p.  43. 

The  North  Water,  although  its  position  varies  with  the  character  and  period 
of  the  season,  may  be  found,  under  ordinary  conditions,  in  the  month  of  August 
off  Cape  York.  The  local  name  given  to  it  by  the  whalers  is  the  Cape  York 
Water. 

Note  7,  p.  46. 

This  moss — an  unrecognised  sphagnum — was  studded  with  the  pale-yellow 
flowers  of  the  Ranunculus  sabinii.  No  less  than  four  species  of  Draba  were 
afterward  found  on  the  island. 

Note  8,  p.  46. 

Poa  and  alopecurus,  with  their  accompanying  bird-life,  are  abundant  on  the 
southern  faces  of  Cape  Alexander ;  but  all  the  headlands  to  the  north  are 
utterly  destitute  of  apparent  vegetation.  On  Sutherland's  Island  a  scanty 
supply  of  scurvy-grass  [Cochlearia fenestrata)  may  be  found. 


Note  9,  p.  49. 
This  ice  was  not  distinguishable  from  aloft  at  the  time  of  leaving  the  brig. 


Note  10,  p.  55. 

My  survey  of  this  harbor  shows  forty  fathoms  water  to  within  a  biscuit-tos3 
of  its  northern  headland, — a  square  face  of  gneiss  rock ;  thence  E.  by  S.,  (true,) 
heading  for  a  small  glacier,  you  may  carry  seven  fathoms  to  within  two  hun- 
dred yards  of  land.  The  southern  side  is  shoal  and  rocky.  The  holding- 
ground  is  good,  and  the  cove  completely  landlocked,  except  a  small  channel 


NOTES.  .  455 

from  the  ■westward  ;  but,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  fogs  as  well  as  wind-eddies 
from  the  cliffs  and  persistence  of  local  ice,  I  cannot  recommend  ii^  for  a  winter 
harbor. 

Note  11,  p.  56. 

This  animal  presented  one  of  those  rare  cases  of  a  well-developed  second  pro- 
cess protruding  about  six  inches.     I  was  unable  to  preserve  the  specimen. 


Note  12,  p.  58. 

These  were  the  results  of  direct  pressure, — more  properly,  "crushed  ice." 
The  ice-hills  of  Von  Wrangell  and  American  authorities  are  grounded  ices 
upreared  by  wave  and  tidal  actions. 


Note  13,  p.  63. 

These  are  arranged  in  lines  not  unlike  those  described  by  Captain  Bayfield 
on  the  Labrador  coast.  They  are  undoubtedly  the  result  of  ice-transportation, 
the  process  being  still  going  on.  At  the  head  of  Force  Bay  are  traces  of  an 
ancient  moraine. 

Note  14,  p.  65. 

My  note-books  contain  many  instances  of  the  facility  with  which  the  Esqui- 
maux dog  relapses  into  a  savage  state.  There  is  an  island  near  the  Holstein- 
berg  fiords  where  such  animals  hunt  the  reindeer  in  packs,  and  are  habitually 
Bhot  by  the  natives. 

Note  15,  p.  68. 

See  page  323  and  Appendix  No.  VI.  For  comparisons  of  difference  of  longi- 
tude between  my  own  and  Captain  Inglefield's  surveys,  consult  any  point  on 
Admiralty  charts  north  of  78°  37'', — the  latitude  of  Rensselaer  Harbor,  which 
was  regarded  as  our  prime  meridian. 

Note  16,  p.  71. 

This  valley  is  flanked  by  terraced  beach-lines :  its  backgrom.d  is  the  seat  of 
an  ancient  moraine  worthy  of  study. 


Note  17,  p.  77. 

A  case  of  similar  peril  is  reported  by  Captain  Cator,  of  H.  B.  M.  steamer 
Intrepid.  His  vessel  was  carried  bodily  up  the  inclined  face  of  an  iceberg,  and, 
after  being  high  and  dry  out  of  water,  launched  again  without  injury.  See 
"Nautical  Magazine." 


456  NOTES. 


NOTElS,  p.  81. 

The  observations  of  our  parties  extended  the  range  of  the  musk-ox  (Oviboi 
nioschatus)  to  the  Greenland  coast.  None  of  us  saw  a  living  specimen ;  but  the 
great  number  of  skeletons,  their  state  of  preservation  and  probable  foot-tracks, 
when  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  information  of  the  Esquimaux,  leave  me  no 
room  to  doubt  but  that  these  animals  have  been  recent  visitors. 


Note  19,  p.  82. 
See  "Examination  of  Plants,"  by  Elias  Durand,  Esq.,  in  Appendix  No.  XVIIL 

Note  20,  p.  87.  •  •   ■    - 

Except  for  cases  of  sudden  effort  and  not  calling  for  continued  exertion  or 
exposure,  grog  was  not  looked  upon  as  advisable.  Hot  coffee  was  a  frequent 
and  valuable  stimulus. 

Note  21,  p.  93. 

The  tenacity  with  which  the  ice-belt  adheres  to  the  rocks  is  well  shown  by 
its  ability  to  resist  the  overflow  of  the  tides.  The  displacement  thus  occa- 
sioned is  sometimes,  however,  so  excessive  that  the  entire  mass  is  floated  away, 
carrying  with  it  the  fragments  which  had  been  luted  to  it  from  below,  as  well 
as  those  incorporated  with  its  mass  by  deposits  from  above. 

Note  22,  p.  95. 

A  reindeer-skull  found  in  the  same  gorge  was  completely  fossilized.  That 
the  snow-waters  around  Rensselaer  Harbor  held  large  quantities  of  carbonate 
of  lime  in  solution  was  proved  not  only  by  the  tufaccous  deposit  which  in- 
crusted  the  masses,  but  by  actual  tests.  The  broken-down  magnesian  lime- 
stones of  the  upper  plateaux  readily  explain  this. 

Note  2-3,  p.  97. 

The  several  minor  streams  which  make  up  Mary  Minturn  River  run  nearly 
parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  interior  glacier  from  which  they  take  their  origin, 
and  unite  in  a  single  canal  without  intermediate  lakes. 

Note  24,  p.  99. 

The  flower-growth  of  the  valley  of  Mary  Mintui-n  River  proves  that  cert/ain 
favoring  influences — especially  those  of  reverberation  of  heat  from  the  rocks 


NOTES.  457 

and  continued  distillation  of  watei-  through  protecting  mosses — give  a  local 
richness  to  the  Arctic  flora  which  seems  to  render  it  independent  of  arbitrary 
zones.  No  less  than  five  Crucifers  were  collected  at  this  favored  spot,  two 
species  of  Draba,  the  Cochlearia  fenestrata,  Ilesperis  pallasii,  and  Vesicaria 
arctica.  The  poppy  grew  at  a  little  distance  from  the  stream ;  and,  still  further 
shaded  by  the  rocks,  was  the  Osyria  digyna  in  such  quantities  as  to  afford 
bountiful  salads  to  our  party.  The  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  water- 
course presented  a  beautiful  carpet  of  Lychnis  and  Ranunculus,  varied  by  Dryas 
octopetala  and  Potentilla  pulchella  growing  from  beds  of  richest  moss.  For  the 
determination  of  the  species  of  these  plants  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Durand :  it 
was  not  until  my  return  and  my  plants  had  been  subjected  to  his  able  analysis 
that  I  was  aware  that  Vesicaria  was  upon  my  list.  I  had  never  seen  it  north 
of  Egedesminde,  latitude  68° ;  yet  both  it  and  Ilespei'is  are  also  among  Dr. 
Hayes's  collections. 

Note  25,  p.  101. 

The  linos  of  junction  of  floes  serve  rudely  as  an  index  to  the  direction  of  drift. 
The  hummocks  are  generally  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of  drift. 


Note  26,  p.  110. 

The  dimensions  and  general  structure  of  the  sledge  are  of  vital  importance 
for  a  successful  journey.  Very  slight,  almost  imperceptible,  differences  cause 
an  increase  of  friction  more  than  equal  to  the  draught  of  an  additional  man  or 
dog.  The  curvature  of  the  runners — that  of  minimum  resistance — depends 
upon  elements  not  easily  computed  :  it  is  best  determined  experimentally.  The 
"Faith" — which  for  the  heavy  and  snow-covered  ice  of  Smith's  Straits  was  the 
best  sledge  I  ever  saw — differed  somewhat  from  the  excellent  model  of  Captain 
McClintock,  fm-nished  me  by  the  British  Admiralty :  its  increased  breadth  of 
runner  kept  it  from  bui-ying  in  the  snow ;  while  its  lesser  height  made  it 
stronger  and  diminished  the  strain  upon  the  lashings.  I  subjoin  the  dimensions 
of  two  nearly  similar  sledges, — Mr.  McClintock's  and  my  own  : — 


McClintoclc's. 

ft.  in. 

Length  of  runner 13    0 

Ileijihtof      do 0  111 

Horizontal  width  of  all  parts 0    2J 


Thickness  of  all  parts 0  1^ 

Length,  resting  on  a  plane  surface 5  0 

Cross-bars,   six    in   number,   making  a 

■width  of. _ 3  0 


The  Failh. 

ft.  in. 

Length  of  runner 13  0 

Height  of      do 0  8 

Horizontal  width  of  rail 0  2J 

"  "         base  of  runner 0  ."J- 

"  "         other  parts 0  2 

Thickness  of  all  parts 0  IJ 

Length,  resting  on  a  plane  surface 6  0 

Cross-bars,  five  in  number,  making  a 

width  of 3  8 


The  shoeing  of  the  large  sledges  of  English  expeditions  was  of  burnished  one- 
eighth-inch  iron  ;  our  own  were  of  annealed  thrce-sixteenths-inch  steel,  as  light 
as  possible,  to  admit  of  slightly  countersunk  rivets.     Seal-skin  lashings  were 


458  NOTES. 

used  for  the  cross-bars,  applied  wet;    the  -wood  was  hickory  and  oak,  not  tbe 
Canada  elm  used  by  the  Lancaster  Sound  parties. 

A  sledge  thus  constructed,  with  a  canvas  cover  on  which  to  place  and  confine 
the  cargo,  would  readily  load,  according  to  the  state  of  the  travel,  from  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  pounds  per  man.  The  "Faith"  has  carried 
sixteen  hundred  pounds. 

Note  27,  p.  113. 

These  boats  were  not  well  adapted  to  their  purpose,  their  bulk  being  too 
great  for  portability.  The  casing  of  basket-willow  I  regard  as  better  than  a 
wooden  frame  or  distension  by  simple  inflation  with  air.  No  sledge,  however, 
should  be  without  the  India-rubber  floats  or  portable  boat  of  Lieutenant 
Halkett. 

Note  28,  p.  114. 

This  is  quoted  from  the  original  report  of  the  party.  There  are  no  syenites 
upon  this  plain :  the  rocks  are  entirely  destitute  of  hornblende.  They  are  of 
the  same  bottom-series  as  the  fiords  about  our  harbor,  highly  feldspathic  and 
sometimes  porphyritic  granites  passing  into  coarse  gneisses. 


Note  29,  p.  117. 

One  end  of  the  cord  represented  a  fixed  point,  by  being  anchored  to  the 
bottom ;  the  free  end,  with  an  attached  weight,  rose  and  fell  with  the  brig,  and 
recorded  its  motion  on  the  grooved  circumference  of  a  wheel.  This  method  was 
liable  to  objections;  but  it  was  corrected  by  daily  soundings.  The  movements 
of  our  vessel  partook  of  those  of  the  floe  in  which  she  was  imbedded,  and  were 
unaccompanied  by  any  lateral  deviation. 


Note  30,  p.  118. 
For  methods  of  observation,  see  Appendix  No.  XI.  Vol.  II. 


Note  31,  p.  122. 

The  almost  incomprehensible  use  of  these  small  kennels  as  dormitories  was 
afterward  satisfactorily  ascertained  from  the  Esquimaux  themselves.  They  are 
spoken  of  as  far  south  as  Karsuk,  (near  Upernavik,)  and  are  at  this  moment 
resorted  to  in  case  of  arrivals  of  hunting-parties,  &c.  Unlike  the  Siberian 
pologs,  they  are  not  enclosed  by  a  second  chamber.  The  hardy  tenant,  mufiled 
in  furs,  at  a  temperature  of  — 60°  is  dependent  for  warmth  upon  his  own 
powers  and  the  slow  conduction  of  the  thick  walls. 


NOTES.  459 


Note  32,  p.  126. 

Hair  evidently  from  tlie  musk-ox  was  found  near  Refuge  Inlet.  The  last  of 
these  animals  seen  by  the  Esquimaux  was  in  the  late  spring  of  1850,  near  Cape 
George  Russell.     Here  Metek  saw  a  group  of  six. 


Note  33,  p.  138. 

For  an  account  of  the  destruction  of  provision-depots  by  bears,  see  the 
reports  of  the  singularly  efBcient  sledge-operations  of  Commodore  Austin, 
(Parliamentary  Blue-Book.)  The  wolverine,  [Gulo  luscus,)  the  most  destruc- 
tive animal  to  Arctic  caches,  is  not  foand  north  of  Lancaster  Sound.  So 
destructive  are  the  bears  about  Peabody  Bay,  that  nothing  but  a  metallic 
cylinder  with  conical  terminations  gave  any  protection  against  their  assaults. 


Note  34,  p.  155. 

The  liquids  subjected  to  these  low  temperatures  were  for  the  most  part  the 
ethers  and  volatile  oils.     The  results  will  be  published  elsewhere. 


Page  158. 

Hydrophobia.  The  caption  at  the  head  of  the  page  is  not  intended  to  affirm 
the  existence  of  this  disease  in  this  high  North.  Some  of  the  tetanoid  symp- 
toms attendant  upon  tonic  spasm  closely  simulated  it ;  but  the  disease,  strictly 
speaking,  is  unknown  there. 

Note  35,  p.  220. 

There  is  a  local  reservoir  of  interior  ice  around  Cape  Alexander  and  toward 
Cape  Saumaurez,  which  may  be,  however,  a  process  from  the  great  mcr  de  glace 
of  the  interior. 

Notes  36  to  41  inclusive,  pp.  221,  222. 

I  intended  to  refer  by  these  numerals  to  a  somewhat  enlarged  summary  of 
the  geognostic  characters  of  this  coast ;  but  I  find  it  impracticable  to  condense 
my  observations  into  the  narrow  limits  which  have  been  reserved  for  these 
notes.  Like  many  other  topics  of  more  scientific  than  popular  interest,  they 
may  find  a  place  in  the  Official  Reports  upon  which  I  am  now  engaged  under 
the  orders  of  the  Navy  Department. 

Note  42,  p.  222 

Where  this  face  came  in  contact  with  opposing  masses  of  rocks, — as  at  islands 
or  at  the  sides  of  its  issuing-trough, — abrupt  fractures  and  excessive  crevassing 


460  NOTES. 

indicated  the  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  ice-stream.  I  think  I  have  men- 
tioned a  small  island  near  the  cache  that  was  already  partially  buried  by  the 
advance  of  the  glacier  and  the  discharged  fragments  at  its  base. 


Note  43,  p.  225. 

Our  sui'veys  give  four  points  for  the  determination  of  the  trend  of  this  interior 
vter  de  glace: — 1.  Up  the  fiord  of  Marshall  Bay;  2.  In  the  interior,  about  lat. 
78°  32^,  as  observed  by  Dr.  Hayes ;  3.  South  of  Force  Bay ;  4.  Near  Etah. 
These  give  the  axis  of  the  stream  nearly  due  north  and  south. 


Note  44,  p.  226. 

Australia,  between  Bass  and  Torres  Straits,  measures  about  sixteen  hun- 
dred miles. 

Note  45,  p.  227. 

Looking  upon  the  glaciers  of  Greenland  as  canals  of  exudation,  for  the  most 
part  at  right  angles  to  the  general  axis  of  the  interior  ice,  we  have  a  system 
of  discharge,  both  on  the  east  and  west  coasts,  coincident  in  direction  with  the 
fiords,  which  themselves  bear  a  fixed  relation  to  the  coast-line.  This  coast- 
line, however,  having  now  been  traced  to  its  northern  face,  analogy  would  sus- 
tain the  view  of  the  central  mer  de  glace  finding  its  exit  into  an  unknown  Polar 
space. 

I  have  spoken  of  Humboldt  Glacier  as  connecting  the  two  continents  of 
America  and  Greenland.     The  expression  requires  explanation: — 

All  of  Arctic  America  north  of  Dolphin  and  Union  Straits  is  broken  up  into 
large  insular  masses,  and  may  be  considered  as  a  vast  archipelago.  While, 
therefore,  a  liberal  definition  would  assign  these  land-masses  to  the  American 
continent,  Grinnell  Land  cannot  strictly  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  continent 
of  America.  Washington  Land  seems,  in  physical  characters  and  position,  to 
be  a  sort  of  middle  ground,  which,  according  to  the  diiFerent  views  of  geo- 
graphers, may  be  assigned  indifferently  to  either  of  the  two  great  divisions. 
From  the  American  land-masses  it  is  separated  by  a  channel  of  but  thirty-five 
miles  in  width  ;  and,  at  this  point,  Greenland,  losing  its  peninsular  character, 
partakes  in  general  character  with  the  land-masses  of  the  West.  A  water- 
channel  not  wider  than  Lancaster  Sound  or  Murchison's,  which  have  heretofore 
not  been  regarded  as  breaking  a  geographical  continuity,  is  all  that  intervenes. 

Note  46,  p.  232. 

Extract  from  Report  of  I.  I.  Hayes,  31.  D.,  Surgeon  to  Expedition. 
"You  were  carried  to  the  brig  nearly  insensible  by  the  more  able  men  of  the 
party,  and  so  swollen  from  scurvy  as  to  be  hardly  recognisable.     I  believe  that 
a  few  hours'  more  exposure  would  have  terminated  your  life,  and  at  the  time 
regarded  your  ultimate  recovery  as  nearly  hopeless," 


X  0  T  E  S. 


461 


Note  47,  p.  242. 

This  term  is  applied  to  the  circular  hole  which  the  fetid  seal  (P.  hispida)  con- 
structs in  the  younger  floes,  and  through  which  it  finds  access  to  the  air  and 
sun.  The  term  atluk  irf  applied  also  to  the  seal  itself  when  killed  beside  its 
retreat.  I  tind  I  have  sometimes  written  the  word  as  attuk.  He  who  has 
attempted  the  orthography  of  an  unwritten  language  will  excuse  the  variation. 

Note  48,  p.  290. 

The  dovekie  ( Uria  grylle)  not  unfrequently  winters  among  the  open  ice  to  the 
southward.  I  killed  a  specimen  in  full  winter  plumage,  in  the  middle  pack  of 
BaiEn's  Bay,  late  in  February. 

Note  49,  p.  299. 

The  immediate  appearance  of  drifting  ice  under  the  influence  of  winds  is  well 
known  to  Arctic  navigators ;  and  this  entire  absence  of  it  during  a  continued 
gale  from  the  north  seems  to  indicate  either  a  far-extended  open  water,  or  ice 
so  solid  and  unbroken  as  to  be  incapable  of  motion. 


Note  50,  p.  304. 

The  frequency  with  which  the  seal — both  the  hispid  and  bearded  species — 
occurred  in  the  open  channel  may  explain  why  it  is  so  favorite  a  resort  of  the 
white  bear.  No  less  than  five  of  these  animals  were  counted,  and  two  were 
killed.  They  seemed,  however,  generally  to  seek  the  inland  ravines  which 
were  the  breeding-grounds  of  fowl.  No  marine  life  was  reported,  unless  a 
small  fish — probably  a  cottus — which  was  caught  by  the  kittiwake  gull ;  yet, 
from  the  bones  of  cetaceans  found  on  the  beach,  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  both 
the  sea-unicorn  [Monodon  monoceros)  and  white  whale  frequent  the  channel. 

The  bird-life  was  more  extended.     I  throw  into  tabular  form  a  list  of  the 

Birds  seen  about  the  Open  Water. 


Brent  goose 

Fh-ing  diagonally  across  channel 

to  N.  and  E. 
In    great    numbers    in    southern 

part  of  Kennedy  Channel. 
Flying    inland   up    Morris    Bay; 

probably  breeding. 
Breeiling    in    rock    N.    of    Cape 

Jackson  ;  very  numerous. 
North  of  Cape  Jeflferson  and  out 

to  seaward. 
Same. 

Same. 

Southern  parts  of  channel. 
Same. 

Breeding  in  great  numbers  S.  of 
Cape  Jefferson. 

King-duck 

S.  spectabilis 

Uria  grylle 

Procellaria  glacialis.... 

Larus  eburneus 

L.  argentalus  ? 

Arctic  petrel 

Ivory-gull 

An  ash-backed  gull,  ) 
(unrecognised)....  J 

Burgomaster 

Kittiwake 

L.  glaucus 

L.  trydactylus 

462  -  NOTES. 

The  season  was  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  allow  me  to  judge  of  the  charac- 
ters of  the  flora ;  but  both  Morton  and  Hans  think  that  the  growth  was  much 
more  forward  than  that  of  our  own  harbor.  They  describe  the  recesses  of 
Lafayette  Bay  as  rivalling  in  richness  the  growths  of  Minturn  River.  They 
brought  back  no  collections ;  and  it  was  only  by  carefully  comparing  known 
specimens  found  about  Rensselaer  Bay  with  those  seen  and  recognised  to  the 
north  by  Hans  that  I  was  able  to  determine  upon  a  certain  number  of  plants. 
Some  others — after  availing  myself  of  the  advice  of  my  friend  Mr.  Dui-and,  to 
whose  courtesy  as  well  as  patient  skill  I  am  glad  to  bear  tribute — I  have  not 
felt  myself  at  liberty  to  insert  in  this  limited  list.  This  enumeration  must  not 
be  regarded  as  an  index  of  the  actual  vegetation ;  but,  with  every  reservation 
for  the  imperfect  observation  and  the  early  season,  I  am  not  satisfied  that  the 
flora  of  Kennedy  Channel  indicates  a  milder  climate  to  the  north  of  our  winter 
harbor.     I  subjoin  my  scanty  list: — 


Ranunculus  nivalis 

...  In  quantities  about  the  mossy  slopes  of  Lafayette  Bay. 

Papaver  nudicaule 

...Well  advanced  and  recognisable. 

Ilesperis  pallasii 

...  Found  in  Lafayette  Bay;  the  silique  recognised  by  Mr. 

Durand. 

Draba 

...Two  forms,  (one  probably  alpina,)  associated  with  re- 

cognisable lychnis  and  cerastium. 

Saxifraga  oppositifolia... 

...  Beginning  to  show  itself.                                 , 

"         flagellaris 

...This  latter  in  dried  state. 

Oxyria  digynus 

...In  quantities  adequate  for  food. 

[  Seen  dried  and  budding  along  the  channel. 

If  we  add  to  these  three  grasses,  poa,  alopecurus,  and  festuca,  with  the  usual 
Arctic  ci'yptogams,  we  have,  except  in  the  anomalous  case  of  Hesperis,  no 
plants  not  common  to  Lower  Smith's  Straits  and  Green's  Channel. 


Note  51,  p.  308. 

These  remarks  will  be  expanded  elsewhere.  The  presence  of  marine  shells 
[Saxicava  and  Astarte)  on  the  upper  terrace-levels  about  Dallas  Bay,  and  simi- 
lar facts  noticed  by  Sir  Edward  Belcher  and  the  Barrow's  Straits  observers, 
leave  little  room  to  doubt  the  conclusion.  But  I  do  not  cite  the  elevation  of  the 
coast,  either  as  deduced  from  the  Esquimaux  habitations  or  otherwise,  except 
as  it  illustrates  changes  in  the  relations  which  the  water  and  ice  once  bore  to 
each  other.     I  do  not  connect  it  with  the  question  of  an  open  sea. 


Note  52,  p.  309. 

This  sledge-runner  was  of  wood  and  bone  together,  with  holes  perforated  for 
the  seal-skin  lashings  used  by  the  natives  to  scarf  their  work.  It  affords  un- 
mistakable evidence  either  of  a  current-drift  and  occasional  open  water  from 
the  sound,  or  of  the  former  presence  of  natives  to  the  north,— this  latter  imply- 
ing competent  hunting-resources. 


NOTES.  463 


Note  53,  p.  309. 

A  popular  analysis  of  these  conditions  may  be  seen  in  Professor  Forbes'a 
recent  work  on  the  glaciers  of  Norway.  We  cannot  refer  this  open  water  to 
any  analogous  causes  with  those  Avhich  explain  the  other  polynias  on  this 
estuary.  Davis  Straits,  off  Cape  AValsingham,  where  the  channel  narrows  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  and  Smith's  Straits,  which  between  Capes  Isa- 
bella and  Ohlsen  have  a  breadth  of  only  thirty-six,  are  at  those  points  clogged 
with  immense  fields  of  ice,  extending  in  the  earlier  season  from  shore  to  shore 
and  arresting  the  passage  of  the  drift  from  above.  It  is  easy  to  explain  the 
occurrence  of  polynia  below  these  two  barriers, — the  North  Water  of  the  whalers 
and  the  upper  water  which  I  met  in  my  unsuccessful  effort  to  reach  Beechy 
Island.  But  between  Capes  Barrow  and  Jackson,  where  Kennedy  Channel  is 
contracted  to  thirty-five  miles  across,  and  where  the  ices  from  above,  if  there 
were  such,  ought  to  be  arrested  as  in  the  other  two  cases,  we  found  this  open 
water;  while  below  it,  in  Peabody  Bay,  where  analogies  would  suggest  the 
probability  of  another  polynia,  we  found  a  densely-impacted  solid  mass.  I  do 
not  see  how,  independently  of  direct  observation,  this  state  of  facts  could  be 
exi^lained  without  supposing  an  iceless  area  to  the  farther  North. 

IIow  far  this  may  extend, — whether  it  does  or  does  not  communicate  with  a 
Polar  basin, — we  are  without  facts  to  determine.  I  would  say,  however,  as  a 
cautionary  check  to  some  theories  in  connection  with  such  an  open  basin,  that 
the  influence  of  rapid  tides  and  cui-rents  in  destroying  ice  by  abrasion  can 
hardly  be  realized  by  those  who  have  not  witnessed  their  action.  It  is  not  un- 
common to  see  such  tidal  sluices  remain  open  in  the  midst  of  winter.  Such, 
indeed,  are  the  polynia  of  the  Russians,  the  stromhols  of  the  Greenland  Danes, 
and  the  familiar  "open  holes"  of  the  whalers. 

Note  54,  p.  322. 

I  regret  that,  after  a  careful  study  of  the  work  of  my  predecessor.  Captain 
Inglefield,  I  am  unable  to  make  his  landmarks  on  the  E.  coast  of  Greenland 
correspond  with  my  own.  The  few  short  hours  spent  by  the  "Isabel"  on 
Smith's  Straits,  and  the  many  difficulties  which  we  know  to  be  attendant  upon 
a  hurried  survey,  readily  account  for  discrepancies  of  bearing  and  position.  A 
sketch  inserted  by  Captain  Inglefield,  in  his  narrative  at  page  70,  locates  Cape 
Frederick  VII.  as  the  first  headland  to  the  N.  of  the  second  indentation,  which, 
according  to  my  survey,  should  be  "  Force  Bay."  But  the  absence  of  Pekiutlik, 
(Littleton  Island,)  which  is  unmistakably  prominent  as  a  feature  of  the  coast, 
embarrasses  me.     My  sketches  of  this  coast  are  in  detail. 


Note  55,  p.  336. 

The  entire  coast  between  Whale  Sound  and  Cape  Alexander  is  studded  with 
small  glaciers.  Some  of  these  are  of  Saussure's  second  order, — mere  trougha 
upon  the  flanks  of  the  coast-ridge ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  they  are  connected 


464  NOTES. 

"with  interior  mers  de  glace,  and  are  urged  forward  in  their  descent  by  the  glacial 
accumulations  of  large  areas.  The  mer  de  glace  "which  occupies  the  central 
plateau  of  Northumberland  is  completely  isolated  and  "washed  by  the  sea,  and 
is  necessarily  dependent  for  its  increments  upon  the  atmospheric  precipitation 
of  a  very  limited  surface ;  yet  it  sustains  in  its  discharge  no  less  than  seven 
glaciers, — perhaps  more, — one  of  "which  is  half  a  mile  in  diameter  by  two  hun- 
di-ed  feet  in  depth.  It  is  a  startling  instance  of  the  redundance  of  Arctic 
ice-gro"wth. 

Note  56,  p.  430. 

This  propensity  of  the  bear — in  fact,  of  all  predatory  animals — is  alluded  to 
by  Scoresby  and  others.  It  "was  curiously  shown  in  the  March  journey  of  1854, 
"when  a  "woollen  shirt  of  Mr.  McGary's  "was  actually  torn  to  shreds  and  twisted 
into  coils. 


The  subjoined  are  given  as  aids  to  physical  inquiry  on  the  part  of  future 
travellers : — 

Directions  to  Sites  of  Rensselaer  Harbor. 

1.  The  observatory  "was  placed  upon  the  northernmost  of  the  rocky  group  of 
islets  that  formed  our  harbor.  It  is  seventy-six  English  feet  from  the  highest 
and  northernmost  salient  point  of  this  island,  in  a  direction  S.  14°  E.,  or  in  one 
•with  said  point  and  the  S.E.  projection  of  the  southernmost  islet  of  the  group. 

2.  A  natural  face  of  gneiss  rock  formed  the  "western  "wall  of  the  observatory. 
A  crevice  in  this  rock  has  been  filled  "with  melted  lead,  in  the  centre  of  "which 
is  a  copper  bolt.  Eight  feet  from  this  bolt,  and  in  the  direction  indicated  by 
the  crevice,  stood  the  magnetometer.  This  direction  is  given  in  case  of  local 
disturbance  from  the  natui'e  of  the  surrounding  rocks. 

3.  On  the  highest  point  of  the  island  mentioned  in  paragraph  1  is  a  deeply- 
chiselled  axTOw-mark  filled  "with  lead.  This  is  twenty-nine  feet  above  the  mean 
tidal  plane  of  our  winter  quarters  for  the  years  1853-54.  The  arro"w  points  to 
a  mark  on  a  rocky  face  denoting  the  lowest  tide  of  the  season  :  both  of  these 
are  referred  by  sextant  to  known  points. 

4.  In  an  enlarged  crack  five  feet  due  "west  of  above  arrow  is  a  glass  jar 
containing  documents.     (See  p.  345.) 

5.  A  cairn  calls  attention  to  these  marks :  nothing  is  placed  "within  it. 


i 


Note. — The  author  is  not  responsible  for  the  accuracy  of  the  sketches  on 
pages  291  and  300,  the  rough  original  sketches  having  been  modified  by  the 
artist. 


END   OF   VOL.  I. 


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